The Alexander Chronicles: Demigod Cannonball Run
by David-El
Summary: During Alex's second winter at CHB, he meets a demigod with an unknown mother-even to him. But before he can get some answers about him, Chiron sends him and his friends off to Maine to help out Grover, then Annabeth disappears!  Part III of TAC
1. Javier

**A/N:** Now, I'm only going to say this once, I do not own PJATO: The Titan's Curse. And I don't own Javier Vargas, playstationdemon does. If you want to know more about Javier, read Son of the Moon Lit Sky.

**Demigod Cannonball Run**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Three**

**Chapter One: Javier**

It had only been three months, and I was ready to kill Thalia. Every day it got worse and worse, so much so that I was almost ready to move to the _mortal_ world with Percy, or even the Underworld just to get away from her. Every morning, I prayed to Hestia to find her a new family. At noon, I asked Hera to take her to Olympus. And at night, I prayed to Hades and Artemis, begging one of them to take her.

Unfortunately, one day I made the mistake of praying too close to her, and she challenged me when we got back to our cabin. "Praying to the gods to get rid of me, eh? I'll show you!" We quickly picked up from where we had left off yesterday, and an hour later, we had destroyed Hera's cabin and burned the roof off of Demeter's, and Chiron was chewing us out again.

After he had left, Annabeth came up to me. "Hey, Alex."

"Annabeth, please tell me you weren't the one that told Chiron."

"Sorry. I would have let you two fight it out, I thought that might calm you two down. But when you destroyed Hera's cabin, I had to tell Chiron."

"Thanks a lot, Annabeth."

"But that's not why I'm here. Dennis brought in another half-blood today."

"Another one? Sheesh, how many does that make? Seven? Eight? And he still doesn't have a searchers' license?"

"Not for lack of support from the Council of Cloven Elders. Apparently, he simply doesn't want one. Oh, and Chiron wants to meet with us in an hour."

I walked off, telling her that I needed to make sure Clarisse didn't 'initiate' him. Once I was out of earshot, I started muttering about how much I hated Thalia. I heard someone else muttering "hate this place." I didn't realize how close he was until we bumped into each other, and I knocked him to the ground. He looked like he was about twelve years old, he had dark brown hair, deep blue eyes, and pale skin. He was wearing filthy clothes that looked like he hadn't changed them in more than a week, and smelled like he'd been dunked in toilet water, and military dog tags around his neck. But the most intriguing thing about him was his scent: it smelled like dew on grass and gave the impression of the coolness of the night. "Clarisse give you the initiation?" He just nodded. "I thought I told her to stop doing that. Anyway, welcome to Camp Half-Blood, my name is Alex."

"Javier, Javier Vargas."

"That's 'Havier' with a 'J,' right?" He nodded. "Hmm, I'd have expected you to have darker skin with a name like that. Hey, you been given the grand tour yet?"

He shook his head, so I showed him around. He was pretty quiet, until we got to the cabins. "Whoa, what happened to _that_ cabin?"

"Eh heh. Um, that was Hera's cabin. As to what happened, Thalia and I happened."

"I take it that you two don't get along very well?"

"No, how did you know?"

"When the blonde girl told Chiron that you two were fighting, he acted like it happened fairly often. And, what do you mean, Hera's cabin?"

"Well, each of the twelve cabins has a single Olympian as their sponsor."

"Sponsor?"

"Well, for the most part the cabins are occupied by that Olympians children. The one exception is Hermes. Being the god of travelers, he isn't picky about who stays in his cabin."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean, 'the Olympians children?'"

"You mean Chiron hasn't told you? Ay yai yai, I'd expect that of my brother, but not Chiron. And especially not Annabeth. Listen, this place is for special people, like you and me."

"You mean crazy people?"

"No. You know about the Olympians, right? Well they're still around, following the flame of Western Civilization. And they're still hooking up and having kids with mortals. This camp is for their children. Half-blood, as in half human and half Olympian. Or as I prefer, demigods."

"Come on, I'm not a demigod. I'm just a Catholic orphan."

"First, who says you can't be a Christian and a demigod? George Washington was, so were Harriet Tubman and Abraham Lincoln. And I'm a Messianic Jew, so how's that a problem? The way I see it, the Olympians are just another created being. More powerful than humans, but created beings, and mortal, kind of. And there are ways to tell a demigod from a mortal. You were diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, right?"

"Yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?"

"And you got into the camp, and you see things that are supposed to be myths, right? Like centaurs, satyrs, nymphs? Also, you never knew one of your parents."

"How did you know?"

"All those point to you being a demigod. The dyslexia? Your brain is hardwired for Greek. The ADHD allows you to survive in fights with other demigods and monsters."

"You mean like the snake-woman?"

"Exactly. And the fact that you could see that she wasn't human is the final proof. A mortal would only see a normal woman. But as demigods, we're gifted with the ability to see through the Mist, something that's created when the mythological world mixes with the mortal world. Your missing parent is your Olympian parent. And mortals can't enter the camp without permission. Any who tried would hit a barrier. My mom tried that a few months ago."

"So, who's your Olympian parent?"

"Zeus. Thalia's my half-sister. Annabeth, that's the blond girl from earlier, her mom is Athena."

"Okay, any idea who my mom is?"

"Normally, I would. See, when my dad found out that mom was pregnant with me, he made my divine siblings give me gifts. Dionysus, that's the grouchy, chubby dude with Chiron, he gave me the ability to find out who other demigods Olympian parent was. For the most part, I'm able to figure it out, but yours is a mystery."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm usually able to tell because a demigods' scent is connected to their parent in some way. Clarisse smells like gunpowder and blood because her dad is Ares, god of war. But you, you smell like the early morning dew on the grass. I can't think of _any_ Greek deity that would give off that scent, except for maybe Artemis. But she's taken a vow to be a virgin for eternity. Now this is the Hermes cabin, where you'll be staying until your mom claims you." He thanked me and walked off to the cabin, and I breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason, I was almost _scared_ of him and I didn't know why. It wasn't because I couldn't figure out who his mom was. Heck, there were still dozens in the Hermes cabin that I couldn't figure out. I wanted to be a friend to him, but something held me back. I wondered if my fear actually had something to do with our parents, like Annabeth and Percy had been in the beginning. But that was a problem for later, right now, I needed to go to the Big House to meet with Chiron.

**A/N:** Welcome to Demigod Cannonball Run! Up next will be Trouble in Maine. Please, Read and Review! Oh, and PSD, if I messed up on Javier's reactions, sorry! Let me know what you want different, and I'll fix it.


	2. Westover Hall

**Demigod Cannonball Run**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Three**

**Chapter Two: Westover Hall**

"So Chiron, what's up?" That was when I noticed the others in the room. Annabeth I had expected, but Thalia was here as well, and to my surprise, Percy Jackson. I thought he had gone back with his mom after the summer ended. "Percy? What are you doing here?"

"He's actually the reason we're here, Alex. According to him, Grover sent him a distress call two days ago. I called the four of you here so I could tell all of you where Grover is and discuss what we're going to do."

"We're going to help him obviously. Now, where is he?"

"Very well, Annabeth. Grover is in Bar Harbor, Maine. Specifically he's at a school called Westover Hall Military Academy."

About ten hours later, we were passing through Bar Harbor in Ms. Jackson's car. The seating arrangements had been a little difficult to figure out, considering how much Thalia and I despised each other, we couldn't sit next to each other, or we would have owed Sally a new car, and Percy wasn't much better with her. Fortunately Annabeth was able to play musical chairs and work out a peaceful solution. When we arrived at 1000 Sols Cliff Road, Westover Hall, Sally managed to embarrass Percy even more than on the ride. "Are you sure you don' want me to wait?"

"No thanks, Mom. I'm not sure how long it will take. We'll be okay."

"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy." Percy blushed as red as a cherry when she said that.

"It's okay, Ms. Jackson. We'll keep him out of trouble." Sally visibly relaxed when Annabeth said that. She held her in high regard, probably because of how many times Annabeth saved Percy's life.

"All right, dears. Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Ms. Jackson. Thanks for the ride."

"Extra sweaters? You have my cell phone number?"

"Come on, Sally. You know we can't use phones." I loved her more than my own mom, but when she was nervous, she forgot things. Nothing important, only little things, like how a monster could find us if we used things like phones.

"Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"

"Mom, seriously! We'll be fine. Come on guys."

When Sally was out of sight, Thalia said "Your mom is so cool, Percy." That was the first compliment I'd heard out of her to anyone besides Annabeth in six months.

"She's pretty okay. But Alex's mom is far nicer."

I grimaced at that. "Not anymore, she's not. Ever since she returned from the Underworld, she's changed."

"What do you mean, changed?"

"You guys ever watch the Oliver Stone movie, _Alexander_? My mom has turned into Olympias, always talking about people betraying me, plotting against me. I could barely stand living with her for two days."

"So _that's_ where you went after we finished fixing our cabin." That was the last thing anyone said, until we were inside Westover Hall.

The place was huge, and decorated to make sure everyone knew they were in a military academy. The entire building smelled of sulfur, and death. The only thing that lightened the feel was the music playing in the background. We'd barely gone fifty feet when the sulfur smell got worse, and two people came forward, a mortal woman, and a man with a scorpion tail-definitely a monster. They demanded to know what we were doing there. I thought that we were dead, until Thalia snapped her fingers, and green smoke that I knew to be Mist flew away from her fingers. "Oh, but we're not visitors, sir. We go to school here. You remember: I'm Thalia, I'm in the ninth grade. And this is Annabeth, Percy and Alex, they're in the eighth grade."

Miraculously, the monster decided not to attack us, and Grover managed to get us away from them. "So what's the emergency?"

Grover took a deep breath and said "I found two."

"Two demigods? Here, in the middle of nowhere?" It had started to get harder to find demigods, Luke was recruiting them as fast as he could, and because of that, we weren't getting as many new campers as normal.

"A brother and sister. They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help. Fortunately there's only one monster."

"Great, these kids at the dance?" Grover nodded and led the way to the gym. When we got there, I was hit by the smell of death-the smell of the Underworld, almost as hard as the Lotus flower scent when we first walked into the Lotus Hotel & Casino. Grover was right, these two were strong.

"Smell anything, Alex?" Percy asked.

"Death. The entire gym smells of death." Naturally that freaked everyone out, probably thought that I meant that we were going to die, or someone had already died. Thalia pulled Grover into a dance while Percy and Annabeth started talking, until Thalia forced _them_ to dance as well. Of course, that left me to keep an eye on the death kids, probably Hades. But I couldn't believe that Hades would break his oath, or that he had loved someone enough to have _two_ kids with-definitely not just a casual affair.

When I noticed that Doc Thorn was watching us, I decided to hunch down, mingle and then become invisible (I decided to hunch so I'd be out of his sight when I went invisible.) When I stood up again, the kids had disappeared! I wanted to turn to the others, but I wanted to beat Thalia in a way that would make her look bad. She was sent to help Grover recover the demigods, yet I would be the one that actually saved them. I wandered around the immediately area of the school, searching for a stronger smell of death or even sulfur. Eventually, I crossed a smell that mixed death, the ocean, and sulfur. I followed it outside to the cliff just to the east of the school, where I found Thorn with Percy and the new kids standing near the cliff. "Unfortunately, you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise you would already be dead."

"Who wants us? Because if you think you'll get a ransom, you're wrong. We don't have any family. Nico and I . . . We've got no one but each other."

"Do not worry little brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand new family."

"Luke. You work for Luke."

"You have no idea what is happening, Perseus Jackson. I will let _le Jeneral _enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you." _The great General shall be freed_, _The betrayer carries his burden._ I remembered that as the next line in Phoebe's prophecy, but it didn't say who the General was, other than the fact that he was a Titan. "The Great Stirring of monsters. The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And some we shall have the most important monster of all-the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"

"You mean monsters like the great Kraken of the story of Perseus?" I interrupted.

"_Oui_, he will destroy New York all on his own! Wait a minute, who are you?"

"That will be difficult, considering we destroyed it last summer." I said, while I pulled out Thuella out and activated the bow. I nocked an arrow and shot him in the shoulder.

"Ahhh! You shot me! I'll kill you for that!"

"Aw, nuts. I'd hoped that would be one of my special arrows-oof!" I cried out, just as I got hit by something I couldn't see, knocking me to the ground. By the time I got up, Thorn had shed his mist form and revealed his true form. "A manticore? He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"

"Listen, Nico. This isn't your Mythomagic game, this is for real. Just forget about those stats, they have no bearing on real life. Now, where did he go?" That was when I heard the clear, piercing call of a hunting horn. The next thing I knew, a silver arrow pierced his left shoulder, and Thorn launched a dozen spikes in the general direction of the archer. None of the spikes made it past 100 ft as they were shot out of the air.

"Permission to kill, my lady?" Naturally Thorn objected to that, claiming that it was against the Ancient Laws.

"Not so. The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast. Zoë, permission granted." Thorn made one last ditch attempt at surviving, throwing himself at Percy and Thalia. Annabeth moved just a split second before I did, grabbing Thorn by the neck, just before the Hunters shot him, and he dove off the side of the cliff.

Percy was so despondent over Annabeth that he was about to throw himself over the cliff, until the lead hunter stopped him. "Let me go! Who do you think you are?"

Zoë moved to slap him, until I stopped her. "Don't you dare touch him, Zoë! He's just upset about losing Annabeth. Percy, allow me to introduce my second favorite sister, Artemis, goddess of the hunt, moon and maidens."

"Whoa, hold on. Time out. Who are you people?"

"It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are _you?_ Who are your parents?" My sister always did have a soft spot for young girls.

"Our parents are dead. We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but . . ." None of us believed her, least of all Artemis and myself. "What? I'm telling you the truth."

"Right. You two are demigods, one of your parents, your mother if I'm not mistaken, was mortal. The other was an Olympian."

"An Olympian . . . athlete?"

"No, one of the Greek gods of Mount Olympus. Nico knows who I'm talking about, don't you?"

"Of course I do! This is so cool! Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage?"

Lucky for us, Bianca interrupted before he continued. "Nico, shut up! This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"

I sighed at that. I knew how to prove her wrong, but I had really wanted to keep it a secret longer. "Really Bianca? Then explain how I have this." I pulled out my Eye of Ra and tossed it up in the air. When it hit my hand, it expanded to my most dangerous weapon, a smaller, less powerful version of Dad's Master Bolt. "Explain this, if you can Bianca."

"Is that what I think it is, Alexander?"

"Not exactly, Artemis. Dad still has his Master Bolt, this is just a copy he gave me last summer."

While we were talking, Percy had been taking an easier approach by just telling her what we had been told more than two years ago. Later, Artemis seemed to want to be alone with Bianca, so she told Nico to show Grover and I how to play Mythomagic. I knew my sister well enough that I knew what she wanted, Artemis was recruiting Bianca to the Hunters of Artemis. After a few hours teaching us, Nico asked "Hey, can I see your lightning bolt?"

"Are you sure? The last time a demigod besides myself handled a bolt, they got a pretty big shock."

"Please?" I just couldn't resist him, so I turned the Bolt towards him. As I expected, he got shocked by it, but he couldn't have been happier. "WOW! That was amazing! Hey, do you and Percy get into a lot of fights considering who your parents are?"

"Actually, Percy and I couldn't be closer friends. The only ones I have trouble getting along with are my siblings: Ares, Thalia and Persephone. Hey, it's almost dawn. How'd you like to see something really cool?" I knew that Artemis would ask Apollo if he would give us a ride. I just wish I knew how bad it would turn out.

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay. In case you're wondering what happened to Sarah, I figured that time spent in the Underworld would change even the best people, in her case it made her paranoid. And yes, Alex does know who's kids Nico and Bianca are, that's one of the reasons he's being so nice to Nico, he wants to prove to Hades that his kids can be welcome at Camp Half-Blood. Up next, Alex gets a surprising revelation about his family's history, whether he knows it or not!


	3. Trouble, More Trouble, Even More Trouble

**Demigod Cannonball Run**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Three**

**Chapter Three: Trouble, More Trouble, Even More Trouble, and History**

When Artemis told us to avoid looking at Apollo until he parked, none of us disobeyed. I knew that I could look at the divine form of the Olympians without disintegrating, but I was pretty sure I could still be blinded by looking directly at the sun (Hey, just because I'm a demigod doesn't mean I'm not human.) When it stopped, it was in the form I was most used to, a red Maserati Spyder convertible. "Hey, Apollo! Long time no see."

"Hey, Alex, little sister! What's up? You never call, you never write. I was getting worried!"

"I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your _little_ sister."

"Hey, I was born first."

"Not according to Dad. The way he tells it, Artemis was born more than a week before you."

"Ah, did you have to bring Dad into it, Alex? Now, what's up? Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?"

"I need a favor. I have some hunting to do, _alone_. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."

"Sure sis! I feel a haiku coming on!

_Green grass breaks through snow_

_Artemis pleads for help_

_I am so cool"_

Percy looked confused, so I turned to him and explained. "My brother is the god of poetry, among other things. According to Hercules, he's been on a haiku rant ever since he made a stop in Japan. So far it's not as bad as his limerick rant, yet."

"'Tis true. If I'd had to hear one more poem that started with, _There once was a goddess from Sparta-_"

"I've got it! _I am so awesome._ That's five syllables! And now, sis. Transportation for the Hunters. And considering Alex is here, I assume some campers too. Let's see . . . Thalia, right? Alex has told me all about you."

"He has, has he Lord Apollo?"

"Zeus' girl, yes? Makes you my half sister. Used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls get turned into trees. Man, I remember this one time-"

"Apollo, we really should get going."

"Oh, right. Percy Jackson?"

"Yeah. I mean . . . yes, sir."

Apollo studied Percy, trying to figure him out. Percy looked a little tense so I whispered to him, "He's just trying to figure you out Percy. He's heard a lot of stories about you, most of them with you as a troublemaker. Yet here, you just showed a lot of respect to the one god you never really need to worry about offending. You're a mystery to him, and they still call _me_ Nygma."

"Well! We'd better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way-west. And if you miss it, you miss it." Unfortunately for him, he had to change the sun into a school bus to fit all 30 of us. After Artemis left, Apollo made the worst decision with the sun since Helios allowed Phaeton to drive: Apollo had Thalia drive the sun. Even though we hated each other more than Athena and Ares did, I knew that she was scared of heights. To her credit, she _did_ protest, but when it was apparent that Apollo wouldn't take no for an answer, I demanded to be let out. "If she's driving, Nico and I will get to camp on our own."

"We will?"

Apollo knew better than to argue with me. "Well, if you insist. Go ahead." I grabbed Nico and dragged him off the bus. Once we were off, I pulled him deep into the woods.

"Why did you pull me off? What was wrong with Thalia driving the sun?"

"Nico, have you ever heard of the story of Phaeton?" He nodded, yes. "Well, picture that happening again, with someone who's afraid of heights and you'll get the idea of what my sister driving will be like." That was when I heard a sound like two dogs growling, and the scent of sulfur in the air. "I don't suppose you have a weapon, do you? Of course not, silly me." I pulled out a short celestial bronze sword and handed it to him. "I really hope you don't need to use this, but just in case."

"Just in case of what?"

"We're about to be attacked by another monster." Then it came in sight. If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn that it was Cerberus, except this dog only had two heads. "Dioskilos? I thought he was created just for _Clash of the Titans_."

"It's Orthrus!" How did this kid know more about Greek Mythology than I did? No matter, I still needed to protect this kid and get him to Camp safely. I pulled out Thuella and prepared to attack the dog, but he leaped over my head and went after Nico. Amazingly, Nico was able to take his heads off with one swipe. "Wow, Nico! I've never seen a demigod kill their monster so quickly! That was amazing!"

"Really?" Nico was actually _blushing_ when he asked that! He was embarrassed by my praise! "So, um, how are we going to get to camp?"

"Climb on my back. We're going to fly the Hermes skies." He looked confused, but obeyed anyway. I then started running, until we took off, heading to Long Island at high speeds-high enough to catch the sun, possibly. On the trip, we noticed a couple odd things. First, Cape Cod had frozen over, and then Rockville, Connecticut had caught on fire, and all the snow had melted (there had been close to three feet of snow when we passed through the area on our way to Westover.) When we finally landed at camp, I noticed the canoe lake had evaporated, I _knew_ that the naiads couldn't be happy about _that_.

Chiron was waiting for us. "I was worried when you two didn't get off the bus with the others. But when Percy told me what you had done, well Alex, I must say I am very disappointed in you. Don't you realize how dangerous it was for Nico?"

"But Chiron, Thalia is dangerous in the air. I'm willing to bet that at least once in the trip, every single Hunter was praying to Artemis, begging her to save them from her driving. Besides, it wasn't _that_ dangerous. The only monster we ran across was Orthrus, and Nico was able to kill it with one strike."

"You shouldn't have left the others, Alex! That was very irresponsible of you. Starting now, the only place you can go in the mortal world is the home of the Jacksons', you cannot go on a quest until you prove you can be more responsible than that. Nico, come with me." Nico very reluctantly left my side and followed Chiron. Although we'd only known each other for a few hours, I felt that he already considered us friends, and that he didn't like Chiron very much because of what he'd done to me.

I would have started moping in my cabin, but then I realized something, I have _never_ legally gone on a quest. In fact, I'd only legally left the camp twice: once to go to Mount Olympus last year, and to help out Grover. Chiron's order shouldn't mean a thing to me, I knew more ways to leave camp than Hermes knew escapes from the Underworld. The revelation had barely come to me when Percy came by. "Hey, Alex. Welcome back, and I'm sorry about not being there to back you up. Chiron shouldn't have punished you that way."

"Please, Percy. How is this a punishment? I've almost never left camp legally, so don't blame yourself. Besides, how would you have been able to help? I'm not upset, neither should you. You need to focus on saving Annabeth."

"Believe me, I am. I'm planning on going to the Oracle tomorrow and see if it'll help. By the way, we're going to have a game of Capture the Flag tomorrow, Campers vs. Hunters. Chiron wanted me to tell you that you're still allowed to participate."

The next morning, Percy told Grover and I about a dream he'd had about Luke and Annabeth, and Grover mentioned that Zoë had a dream about Artemis being kidnapped. "How would you kidnap an immortal goddess? Is that even possible?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it happened to Persephone."

"But she was like, the goddess of _flowers_."

"Springtime."

"And then there's the fact that she was kidnapped by Hades, but that doesn't matter right now. You say that Luke had been holding something up, like a cave ceiling, then got Annabeth to carry it. And now Artemis is missing? Sheesh, I got Phoebe's prophecy just in time."

"What do you mean?"

"_The great General shall be freed,_ _The betrayer carries his burden,_ _The fourth seal broken:_ _A virgin huntress shall bear the sky_. This Titan General has been freed from his prison, because Luke, aka the betrayer, is carrying his burden, whatever that means. He passed it on to Annabeth, and now they're going to make Artemis carry . . . the . . . sky. Hmm, wonder what that means?"

"Who knows, but I think the Hunters were scouting us."

"Scouting us? What do you mean, Grover?" Grover then gave Percy a couple of brochures, all of them promoting the Hunters of Artemis. I'd seen all of them before, usually around the Camp message board, but why would Grover think that _these_ were special?

"I found these in Annabeth's backpack. It seems to me . . . maybe Annabeth was thinking about joining them."

That night, the game started out okay. Thalia had a good plan, assuming the Hunters went along with it. But naturally, they had their own plan. While some of the Hunters did go after the decoy, a larger group went after Thalia's group. "Thalia isn't going to make it," Nico observed. Dang, this kid was good. Percy noticed the same thing and ran for the flag himself. We were sure to win, until we noticed Zoë charging towards us. I flew after her, hoping that wings really were faster than legs, but she had the speed of a nymph, and just as I was about to catch her, she crossed the creek.

"PERSEUS JACKSON, ALEXANDER SUMMERS! What in the name of the gods were you THINKING? You were supposed to defend the flag, NOT let those stupid Hunters take it!" That was the beginning of the biggest fight I'd seen in my entire life. Not only did Thalia nearly get into a major fight with Percy and myself, I finally understood how dangerous kids of the Big Three were if they got into fights with each other.

"You want some, Seaweed Brain? Or how about you, _Lex_?" When the other campers heard that, they gasped in shock and terror. Only Clarisse had _ever _dared to call me that, and since then she's kept her distance from me.

"Bring it on, _sis_." I called, just as Percy said "Bring it on, Pinecone Face!" Thalia was so furious that she called down a lightning bolt to hit Percy, but I jumped between them, absorbing the electricity and allowing it to charge me. "Bad move, sis. Or did you forget what lightning does for me?" I then pulled out one of my poisoned arrows and took aim at her, preparing to shoot . . . until I noticed the Oracle shuffling towards us, shrouded in Mist.

"This is impossible. It . . . she has never left the attic. Never."

I stared at Chiron. "You've lived for three thousand years, and you call _this_ impossible? Sheesh, you need to get out more, Chiron."

Then it spoke in the triple timbre that I guessed came naturally to it. _I am the spirit of Delphi. Speaker of the Prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python._ It stared at Percy and myself with it's cold, dead eyes, until it turned to Zoë and said, _Approach seeker, and ask._

"What must I do to help my goddess?"

_Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

_One shall be lost in the land without rain,_

_The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

_Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_

_The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

_And one shall perish by a parent's hand._

Then the Mist was swallowed back into the Oracle's body, and she collapsed. Naturally, Percy and I were elected to carry the Oracle back to the attic. When we got back downstairs, we discovered that Chiron and D had called a meeting of the cabin leaders to discuss the quest, and that Thalia had them start without us. "We can get five Hunters and go."

"Yes. Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."

"You're missing something, Zoë," I said. "First, the Oracle said _'Campers and Hunters combined prevail,' _which means you'll need some of us to go with you. Second, there's a line in another prophecy you should hear: _The fourth seal broken:_ _A virgin huntress shall bear the sky_. Artemis isn't just being held captive, she's being used to free someone else. Kronos has used Artemis to free a Titan from his prison, holding up the sky."

"NO! He can't be free. Thou must be mistaken, Artemis would never willingly free him. Besides, we do not need thy help."

"What if he had already been freed, and a young girl was bearing the sky? I know my sister, she would come to any maiden's help, even if it meant being imprisoned."

"What art thou implying?"

"Haven't you ever wondered what happened to Annabeth? According to a dream Percy had, Thorn delivered her to where the Titan was held, where she took the sky from Luke, a son of Hermes. Naturally, Artemis would take the sky to save her life. As for you not needing our help, do you really want to fight a prophecy? You know as well as I what happens if you try that."

"We must not delay. This Friday is the winter solstice."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice. She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos' minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations." Say what you want about Zoë, but she knew the Olympians well.

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?"

"Yes," we said together.

"Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on." Then they started asking what the 'bane of Olympus' was, and they eventually turned to look at me. "What? Don't look at me, I'm a demigod, not a Olympian dictionary. I don't even know who the Titan is."

"But thou hast spent more time on Olympus than almost any of us. Also, thy father is Zeus, surely he must have warned thee about potential threats?"

"Actually, no he hasn't. The last time I saw him, he still refused to believe that Grandfather was a threat." After that, the meeting continued for another 15 minutes, eventually deciding on Zoë, Bianca, Thalia, Grover, and a third Hunter as the group (I really loved Zoë's comment when Silena said that she wasn't going. "A daughter of Aphrodite not wanting to be looked at? What would thy mother say?" Absolutely hilarious!) Percy suddenly realized that they had their fill of people, and demanded to join the quest, but Zoë preferred Grover to Percy, saying "I will take a satyr if I must, but not a male hero."

"So you're just going to ignore the nature of satyrs, Zoë?"

"I know what to expect from satyrs, and I have been betrayed by one of thy brothers before. I won't risk it again."

"Once bitten, twice shy, eh?"

"Aye." After supper, I found Percy sitting in his cabin. "You know Percy, there's another option if you really want to save Annabeth."

"What's that?"

"Well, Phoebe's prophecy seems to be centered on us, so I was thinking. How would you like to come with me when I leave to follow them?"

"You'd take me with you?"

"Percy, we have an opportunity that many people wished they had-we choose our family. We have an enormous family, and yet none of us are genetically related, which means we can choose who we want to treat as family. You and I have been through more things than I want to remember, and I think of you as more than a friend, or cousin. To me, you are my brother, and the only mortal that I'm proud to be related to. Of course I'd take you with me. Although, you'll need to provide your own transportation."

That night, I had a dream. But like my last dream, this had nothing to do with the quest, or even Greece. _I was standing in a palace in Memphis, Egypt. Before me stood Pharaoh Khufu, his wife Meritites I, and their newborn sons, Djedefra and Khafra. "We have done it, my wife. The first Egyptian demigods have been born. With one of them as pharaoh, Egypt shall become the most powerful nation in the world."_

"_Yes, my husband. But what will the other gods do to Ra? I worry for the father of my children."_

"_What can they do? He is their king."_

_Suddenly, I was standing in a courtyard. Before me stood Isis, Osiris, Set, Sekhmet, and Horus having a heated discussion. "This isn't right. Ra should know better than to have demigod children. It's against our ancient laws. And he has _me_ punish humans when they become rebellious."_

"_You're right, Sekhmet. But ever since he separated Geb and Nut for having us, no one has dared to go against him. How could we even do it?"_

"_Don't worry Osiris. I have the perfect way to get rid of him."_

"_You wouldn't dare, Set. If you allow Apophis to swallow him, you'll bring the wrath of Yahweh down on us. He would destroy us, and then Egypt!"_

"_Good point Horus. We're supposed to restrain Apophis until the Day of Judgment. So, how are we supposed to do it?"_

"_It's easy Set. Just give me a few decades, and I'll take care of Ra."_

"_You better, Isis. For the good of us all."_

_I suddenly jumped forward about 20 years. Khufu, host of Ra, was now an old man, drooling in his sleep. Isis gathered some of the drool, mixed it with some dirt, made a snake, and placed it at a certain spot just outside Memphis. When Khufu/Ra walked by, the snake bit him. On his sick bed, it was clear that he was dying. "My king, I can save you, if you tell me your name."_

"_My daughter, Isis. I am the one who causes the Nile to flood; I divided the year into seasons, and days into hours. I am called Khepri in the morning, Ra at noon, and Atum in the evening."_

"_No, none of those. I cannot heal you without your _**true** _name."_

"_Then lean in." Isis did so and Ra whispered it into her ear. Isis then drove the poison out of Ra, and demanded Ra leave Egypt. "Why, daughter?"_

"_Because you have broken one of our ancient laws and had a child with a mortal. For that, you must be punished. Banishment is the worst I can think of."_

"_Very well. I had hoped that my children would bring us closer to Egypt, but I will do as you demand. When the time is right, pass my name on to Horus."_ Then I awoke to a tug in my gut. What was that, and what was with that dream?

**A/N:** Whew, that's done! Thanks to Reading Obsession for the idea about Egyptian demigods. And sorry for the wait, but I hope that this is worth it. And if you're wondering about the long title, I got it from a joke about Alaskans: You know you're an Alaskan if you know the four seasons as: Winter, More Winter, Even More Winter, and Construction.


	4. D Makes an Odd Decision, For Him

**Demigod Cannonball Run**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Three**

**Chapter Four: D Makes an Odd Decision, For Him**

When I looked outside, it was almost dawn, and knowing the Hunter's habits, I got ready to go as quickly as I could. I was running for the exit, when I hit Nico di Angelo. "Hey, Alex! Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Hi Nico. I'm going to go catch the Hunters. By the way, have you seen Percy?"

"Catch the Hunters? You mean you're going after them, even though Chiron told you to stay here?"

"I'm not afraid of Chiron, or anything else for that matter. This won't be the first time that I've left the camp without permission. Now where's Percy?"

His answer started in a whisper so quiet that I don't think I was supposed to hear it. "Jeez, you sure are arrogant. Percy's already left, he jumped on one of the pegasi and they flew off after the van. I hope he'll keep his promise about protecting my sister."

"Thanks, Nico. And don't worry about your sister, you'll see her again. I'm going to do my best to make sure she comes back to you, I promise." I finally caught up with Percy about an hour later at the Chrysler Building. "Hey, Percy. Didn't you think to wait for me?"

"Hi, Alex. Sorry, but I didn't have time to wake you. Now, let's get go . . . Whoa!" I started to turn to see what was going on, when I smelled the strong scent of wine, "Dionysus. What in the world are you doing here? I thought Dad told you to stay at camp except during solstice meetings."

"The next person, _or horse_, who calls me the 'wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot," he glared at Blackjack, he didn't even bother to answer me! "And you thought, perhaps, that the immortal, all-powerful director of camp would not notice you leaving without permission?"

"All powerful, you say? Then prove it, _wine dude!_" His eyes burned with a purple fire, and I knew that he was furious, but I was on a roll. "Do something only an all-powerful being could do! Kill Kronos! Create life from nothing! Put me in a bottle of Merlot!"

"Alex, what are you doing?"

"Calm down Percy. He's not going to do anything to us. He can talk the talk, but he can't walk the walk when it comes to being 'all powerful.' He won't do anything to us because he's afraid of our father's. Besides, we are probably the ones that will save Olympus, so he needs us. So while you're here, why don't you tell us why you hate us so much?"

"Did I ever tell you about Ariadne? Beautiful young princess of Crete? She liked helping her friends, too. In fact, she helped a young hero named Theseus, also a son of Poseidon. She gave him a ball of magical yarn that let him find his way out of the Labyrinth. And do you know how Theseus rewarded her?"

"They got married. Happily ever after. The end." I did my best to stifle a laugh. I thought he knew that only a handful of demigods got "happy endings." I'm sure Sally would have named him Theseus if he had gotten a happy ending.

"Not quite. Theseus _said_ he would marry her. He took her aboard his ship and sailed for Athens. Halfway back, on a little island called Naxos, he . . . What's the word you mortals use today? . . . he _dumped_ her. I found her there, you know. Alone. Heartbroken. Crying her eyes out. She had given up everything, left everything she knew behind, to help a dashing young hero who tossed her away like a broken sandal."

"Now wait just a minute, _wine dude_. The way _I_ heard it, Theseus left her there at the command of Athena. You can't really blame him for following Athena's command, can you?"

His eyes burned again, and I knew that if he could, he would do something terrible to me. _Thanks, Dad,_ I thought_. _"I can and I do, _Lex_. I fell in love with Ariadne, boy. And when she died, I made her my immortal wife on Olympus. She waits for me even now. I shall go back to her when I am done with this infernal century of punishment at your ridiculous camp." Typical Olympian, never stays faithful to their marriage vows.

"You're . . . you're married? But I thought you got in trouble for chasing a wood nymph-"

"My _point_ is you heroes never change. You accuse us gods of being vain. You should look at yourselves. You take what you want, use whoever you have to, and then betray everyone around you. So you'll excuse me if I have no love for heroes. They are a selfish, ungrateful lot. Ask Ariadne. Or Medea. For that matter, ask Zoë Nightshade." Medea, hmm. I'd have to ask Dad about that one, or maybe Athena. I'd heard her story, but I never understood why she did what she did, especially considering the customs of the day. "Go. Follow your silly friends."

"You're . . . you're letting us go? Just like that?" I could understand Percy's confusion. This was not at all like the wine dude (I would have to thank Nico later for coming up with that nickname,) usually he would drag us back to camp, destroy our minds, or turn us into something. He had to have something up his sleeves . . .

"The prophecy says at least two of you will die. Perhaps I'll get lucky and it'll be you two. But mark my words, live or die, you two will prove no better than the other heroes." He then snapped his fingers, and disappeared. We then flew off to catch up with the others.

We followed them all the way to DC before we finally stopped, landing at the Washington Monument. "Are you sure that they're here, Alex?"

"Sure Percy. Thanks to Athena, this map can track anyone we want." I pulled out the map that Athena had given me last summer, just before we went looking for Grover and the Fleece. I zoomed it in to DC, and showed it to him, saying "Look, we're here at the Washington Monument, and they're here, at the Air and Space Museum."

"What's with the red eye here?"

I looked where he was pointing, and sure enough, there was a red eye of Ra right on top of the Monument. "Hmm, I'm not sure. My only guess is that it's one of the places that we're supposed to avoid. I don't know why Athena would have us avoid it, unless that Eye of Ra is supposed to be some kind of hint. Eh, who . . . knows? Well, well. Look over there, it's our old friend Doc Thorn."

We decided to follow the Doc into the Museum of Natural History, and what we saw shocked us. There were about a dozen mortal guards protecting the perimeter, and two Scythian Dracaenae. Beyond them were Doc Thorn, a large man sitting on a throne (tall enough that his head was hidden in the shadows near the roof,) and Luke. But Luke had changed-he looked like he had aged ten or twenty years, his hair had gone almost gray, and his scar looked like it was brand new.

"Well?" The mystery guest had a voice that sounded ancient and dangerous, but also tired, almost as if he'd been relieved of some heavy burden recently.

"They are here, _mon_ _Jeneral_."

"I know that, you fool. But where?"

"In zee rocket museum."

"The Air and Space Museum. Get it right."

"As you say, _sir_." By his tone, Thorn apparently _hated_ Luke, and if it weren't for the General, would probably kill him before calling him _sir_.

"How many?" Thorn ignored the question until the General repeated it.

"Four, Jeneral. Zee satyr, Grover Underwood. And zee girl with the spiky black hair and zee-how do you say-_punk_ clothes and zee horrible shield."

"Thalia."

"And two other girls-Hunters. One wears a silver circlet."

"_That _one I know."

"Let me take them. We have more than enough-"

"Patience. They'll have their hands full already. I've sent a little playmate to keep them occupied. Besides, we can't risk you, my boy."

"_Oui_, _boy._ You are much too fragile to risk. Let _me_ finish them off."

"No. You have already failed me Thorn." The General had stood up, and he looked like he was about 40 feet tall (definitely an immortal-the only other beings that tall were our parents.) He had a deep tan and black hair that was slicked-back, and a brutal, wrinkled face.

"But Jeneral-"

"No excuses!" When we'd first met, Thorn had struck me as a commanding presence, a person that Ares would have liked immediately. But when compared to the General, it was clear that Thorn was strictly low-level, while the General was so clearly military, that he didn't need a uniform-his very presence said _military big-shot_. Of course, that only made me want to get rid of him even more-I hated most authority figures, _especially_ military authority figures. "I should throw you into the pits of Tartarus for your incompetence! I sent you to capture a child of the three elder gods, and you bring me a scrawny daughter of Athena!"

"But you promised me revenge! You promised me-"

"ENOUGH! _I_ am Lord Kronos' senior commander. I will carry out my promises to those who get me results! It was only thanks to Luke that we salvaged our plan at all. Now get out of my sight, Thorn, until I find some menial task for you to do. If you don't, maybe I'll make carry my burden for a while." That threat sent Thorn scampering from the room with his tail between his legs. "Now, my boy. The first thing we need to do is isolate the demigod Thalia. The monster we seek will then come to her."

"The Hunters will be difficult to dispose of. Zoë Nightshade-"

"DO NOT speak her name!"

"S-sorry General. I just-"

The General waved his apology away and turned to a mortal guard. "Do you have the teeth?" The guard nodded, and the General had the guard plant and water them. But to everyone's surprise, instead of a dozen killing machines rising, a dozen _kittens_ rose. I'd have laughed my head off, f I wasn't so worried about giving us away, or that there really_ was_ something here to create killers.

_"What is this? Cute, cuddly kittens? Where did you find those teeth?"_ The General was _clearly_ not happy about those teeth.

"From the exhibit, sir! Just like you said. The saber-toothed tiger-"

"No, you idiot! I said the tyrannosaurus! Gather up those . . . those infernal fuzzy little beasts and take them outside. And never let me see your face again!" As soon as the guard left, he muttered, "Imbeciles."

"That is why I don't use mortals. They are unreliable."

"Then you deprive yourself of a tool, Castellan. They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent. I love them." Soon after that, the guar returned with more teeth. "Excellent. Dinosaur teeth-ha! Those foolish mortals don't even know when they have dragon teeth in their possession. And not just _any_ dragon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself! They shall do nicely. Once my warriors catch the scent, they pursue it relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapon known to demigod or Hunter. Well, no demigod that hasn't existed for more than sixty years, anyway." He planted the teeth, and this time when the creatures rose, twelve skeletal forms rose from the dirt. "Quickly, do you have the scent?"

A dracaena responded that she did, and she tossed a silver scarf down to the zombies. Percy and I both knew what would happen if that scarf made it down to the zombies, and we leapt into action. Percy charged the zombies and grabbed the scarf, while I pulled out an arrow and shot three of the dracaena. "What's this? An intruder! Two cloaked in darkness. Seal the doors!"

"It's Percy Jackson and Alex Summers! It has to be." I dove for Percy and picked him, but not before one of the zombies got a piece of his shirt, and thus his scent. I flew us as quickly as possible to Zoë and the others, to warn them that they were now being tracked . . .

**A/N:** Sorry about the delay, but I had two other stories that I was working on. One-_The Veritas Saga: Origins_ is far more difficult to write for, but if you like _Smallville_, than please R&**R**, especially considering it only has two reviews! The second, well, I was hired to write the prophecy for PSD's story _Son of the Moonlit Sky_, not an easy task. As always: **Read & REVIEW!**


	5. I Make Three Immortals Mad At Me

**A/N:** In case you were wondering why Alex doesn't know who the General is, well, he ignores the written myths when he can talk to the people involved. Also, the wisdom gift from Athena is more battle strategy than practical wisdom (Athena thinks that should be earned, not given.) And finally, the last time he was on Olympus was in the beginning of _Summer Odyssey_. In case you want an idea as to how Alex sees D, picture an old version of Disney's Dionysus from _Hercules._

**Demigod Cannonball Run**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Three**

**Chapter Five: I Make Three Immortals Mad at Me**

When we made it to the Air & Space Museum, I crashed, sending us rolling on the floor until we hit Thalia and Bianca. (What? I hit a rocket and we went spinning.) Next thing I knew, Zoë and Bianca had arrows notched and aimed at our chests. "You two? How dare thou show thy faces here?"

"That's not important right now, Zoë. What is important is that Luke, Thorn, and the General are here, now. And worse, he's sending twelve skeleton warriors and at least one monster after us. So unless we leave, _now_, we're dead!" Percy agreed and told them what we'd witnessed in the Natural History Museum.

"Zoë, if it _is_ the General-"

"It _cannot_ be! They must have seen an Iris-message or some other illusion."

"Illusions and Iris-messages don't crack marble floors. Now Alex is right, we need to get out of here as quickly as possible."

"If thou art telling the truth about the skeleton warriors, we have no time to argue. They are the worst, the most horrible . . . We must leave, now." Percy said that was a good idea, but Zoë cut him off before he could say anything else. "I was _not _including thee, boy. You are not part of this quest."

"Sorry, Zoë, but we are going with you. We've come this far, and we're not going back until Artemis and Annabeth have been rescued. Besides, we have the wine dude's permission." Zoë and Thalia were about to object, but they were cut off by a 'ROAR' so loud that I could have sworn that the rockets were starting up again. I caught the smell of sulfur just as the monster leapt up the ramp. It was easily the biggest lion I'd seen up to that day (Since then I've actually seen bigger ones, believe it or not.)

"The Nemean Lion. Don't move." I refused to do nothing, so I took off and shot it. Naturally it didn't penetrate (okay, shattered is probably more honest,) but hey, I had to try. I quickly realized that the only vulnerable place . . . was it's mouth. That gave me an idea. I turned to Percy, and it was clear that we had the same idea, "The gift shop!" Thalia and Grover stared at us, clearly confused, but Percy had already returned with an armful of the best weapon that we had against the lion. I yelled at the lion, and as it roared at me, Percy threw some of the astronaut food into its mouth, and it started choking. We had been through here about seven years ago, and we had begged our moms to get some; we regretted it after our first bite, so I couldn't blame the lion one bit. Percy tossed a few more servings, allowing the three of us with bows to kill it by shooting it's mouth full of arrows. After that, Zoë decided first to let Percy keep the pelt, and second that we were officially a part of the quest.

We were followed by a black helicopter, until Bianca pointed out the subway. But her explanation as to how she thought of it shocked me. "I saw that station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, because it wasn't here when we used to live in DC."

"New? But Bianca, they built it nearly 50 years ago. How could you not have seen it when you lived here before?"

"I . . . I don't know." We changed trains three times, just to make sure we ditched our pursuers. By the time we _did_ lose them, we were on the outskirts of DC, with the only other "human" in sight being a "homeless guy" that pointed out an auto-carrier train that was headed west (I use the word "human" loosely, considering it _was_ Apollo helping us out.)

We were just about to board the train when I caught the scent of sulfur, very close by. "Guys, monster alert. And it smells like . . . _a pig?_"

"What art thou talking about, Alex? How doest thou know a monster is near?"

"Call it a gift, Zoë. All I can tell you is that it came from the wine dude, and that we should see it in three . . . two . . . one . . . now." Just as I finished speaking, we caught sight of the monster as it tore through a train, luckily not ours, yet it was nothing more than an enormous pig. Zoë and Bianca quickly brought it down with their bows, and Zoë said, "Lunch is served. On today's menu: the Crommyonian Sow."

"Thanks, but no thanks Zoë. I'm on a strict diet, and pig is definitely not kosher. I'll look for something else." Then I caught sight of the one thing that I never expected to see in America outside of a zoo, let alone in the middle of a train yard: four peacocks, two male, two female. "There we go," and I shot all four of them with the Bolt. "Easy as pie, and already cooked. You guys want some?"

"Are you mad, Alex? Don't thou know that that bird is sacred to thy step-mother?"

I _had_ forgotten it, but "Who cares about Hera? The way I hear it, she hates all heroes, but she _especially _hates my siblings, so what do I have to lose? Now, do you guys want some, or are you too scared of Hera?" Apparently they _were_ scared of her, so I had the four birds to myself.

Our train stopped in St. Louis, which was really depressing for Grover, Percy and I, because the last time we'd been here, we'd been with Annabeth. I looked at Percy, and I knew he was thinking the same thing. "Hey, girls. If you don't mind, while we're waiting for another ride, Alex and I are going to ride to the top of the Arch."

"What? Art thou mad? Split up, just to see some stupid landmark? What hast gotten into thee?"

"Listen, Zoë. Last time we were in St. Louis, I kept Annabeth from doing it because of time constraints. Percy was willing to go, but I insisted we keep on the move. Annabeth was furious with me until we met with Ares. If we're here again, and we don't go and get some pictures, Annabeth will never forgive us. So sorry, but we're going."

For once, Thalia backed us up, so Zoë relented. Percy and I went up almost completely alone, except for an old woman and her Chihuahua, which was really weird, considering it was the middle of the day. Then again, the tourist season had ended, so I guess it was reasonable. The Chihuahua started growling at us, and the woman got after it saying, "Now, now Sonny. Behave." Sonny? She just called her dog Sonny? At the top, there were three people waiting, but they left about two minutes after we got there. "All right, son. Now we can."

"Um, did you just call that Chihuahua your _son?_" Now, I've heard of people being close to their pets, but calling them your children? That was taking it a little far, so I can't blame Percy for asking that.

"_Chimera,_ Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make."

"Did you just say _Chimera?_ Oh, no. You're Echidna, aren't you?"

"Echidna? Isn't that a kind of anteater?"

"I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me. I was going to leave you alone, Perseus Jackson, but you shall die along the murderer of my children!" She turned to stare at me. "Oh, yes. I know all about you, Alexander Summers. Hera told me how you killed so many of my brood. Orthrus, the Hydra, my beloved Gorgons, the Nemean Lion, Scylla, the Crommyonian Sow. You even made Cerberus submit to you! You shall pay for your crimes against my family, son of Zeus!"

By now, the Chihuahua had changed into the Chimera and was charging me. I managed to fly out of the way, but the Chimera burned my shoes, sending me crashing to the floor. I risked a glance over at Percy, but he was doing fine-Echidna had revealed her true self (kind of looked like Stheno or Euryale, you know, half snake?) and Percy had already cut off one hand and part of her tail. Without my winged shoes, it was all I could do to avoid the Chimera's attacks, let alone attack it. Then I got an idea, and I cut a deep gash in the floor, then a second.

I'd just cut the third gash, when suddenly there was a burning pain in my hand. Damn, as if this fight wasn't going bad enough for me, now the damned snake's gone and bitten me! I sliced the snake head off, thinking that would help me out, but no! It went and bit me again! By now, I was in so much pain, that I had to activate my Bolt just to be able to move, but I finally got in place. "Echidna, you should really teach your kids something about battle strategy. For example, Rule 1: Always mind your surroundings!" With that, I made the final slice, allowing a large potion of the floor to fall out, taking the Chimera with it. Echidna then broke the second rule, Never take your eyes off your opponent, by ignoring Percy and turning towards me. Percy took advantage of it, and took her head. I smiled weakly at him, "Thanks." Then I blacked out.

"_What happened to him?"_

"_The Chimera's tail bit him. Twice. How bad is it?"_

"_Bad. I'm surprised he's lasted this long. Usually it only takes one bite to kill, and that inside of five minutes. I've never heard of someone surviving __**two**__ bites. Doest thou have any idea how he does that?"_

"_I think it's his Bolt. He's the only one that can handle it. And then there's the fact that his dad is Zeus, so I think it charges him up."_

"_That might do it. Thalia, wouldst thou take care of him?"_

"_I hate him! Why would I want to help him live? No, Zoë. I will not help him, even now."_

"_How could thou? He is thy brother! You should help him out of family loyalty, if nothing else."_

"_He is NOT family, not to me! As demigods, we choose who to treat as family, and who to treat as strangers. I choose to treat him as he is, my worst enemy!"_

"_Very well. Bianca wouldst thou be willing to take care of him?"_

"_Gladly. I owe him my life, and that of my brother's. This is the least I could do."_

"_Nico didn't understand my decision."_

"_He'll be alright. Camp Half-Blood takes in a lot of young kids. They did that for Annabeth. Besides, he seems to have really hit it off with Alex. I'm sure with him around, Nico won't miss you quite as much."_

"_I hope we find her. Annabeth, I mean. She's lucky to have a friend like you two."_

"_Lot of good it did her."_

"_Don't blame yourself, Percy. You risked your life to save my brother and me. I mean, that was seriously brave. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have felt okay about leaving Nico at the camp. I figured if there were good people like you there, Nico would be fine. You're a good guy."_

"_Even though I knocked you down in Capture the Flag?"_

_Bianca was laughing. "Okay. Except for that, you're a good guy."_

"_So what's the story with you and Nico? Where did you go to school before Westover?"_

"_I think it was a boarding school in DC. It seems like so long ago."_

"_You never lived with your parents? I mean, your mortal parent?"_

"_We were told our parents were dead. There was a bank trust for us. A lot of money, I think. A lawyer would come by once in a while to check on us. Then Nico and I had to leave that school."_

"_Why?"_

"_We had to go somewhere. I remember it was important. We traveled a long way. And we stayed in this hotel for a few weeks. And then . . . I don't know. One day, a different lawyer came to get us out. He said it was time for us to leave. He drove us back east, through DC. Then up to Maine. And we started going to Westover."_

I finally woke up about five minutes after I heard Percy and Bianca's conversation. When I looked up, Percy and Bianca were doing their best to run while carrying me on a stretcher. "Hey, Bianca. What's going on?" I asked. My voice sounded weak, apparently I still hadn't recovered from the snake bites.

"Welcome back to the land of the living. We're being chased by two of your zombies. Now, since you're awake, would you mind getting up so we can fight?"

"Sure." I got up, and promptly crumpled to the ground.

"Alex! Are you all right?"

"Yeah, Percy. I'll just need some time to get my old strength back. Until then, I'll just have to use a crutch." I pulled out my new ankh and hit the button, and it turned into a spear (It's my second, because my first one was broken in an encounter with Polyphemus.) Then I turned it so that the point was in the ground and used it as a makeshift crutch. "Go on, and get into the fight. And Bianca? Use a knife or sword against them. You'll probably be the only one that can kill them." Percy and Bianca looked at me weird, but I noticed Bianca followed my advice and used her Hunter's knife instead of her bow.

I tried to stay out of the fight, but a fifth skeleton showed up in front of me. I rolled away from it, and reached for my Bolt. The zombie reached me just as the Bolt was activated, and I shot it at point blank range. Luckily for me, the zombie was completely disintegrated. The fight ended when Erymanthian Boar showed up. When the pig started chasing Percy and the others, I decided the best way to stay with them was to use the boar as my means of locomotion. I pulled out Thuella and activated the side that I used the least, the trident. I then tied a rope on the end and threw Thuella into the boars' side, and I sat down on my shield, using it as a sled. The boar finally stopped running when night fell that day, and we were easily 300 miles from where we were when I woke (and for your information, no matter how bad Percy had it, I had it _worse_.)

Grover worked some of his tracking magic, and apparently we had to go through this enormous junkyard to get to Artemis and Annabeth, but we unanimously voted to wait till morning to attempt the junkyard. That night, Thalia brought up the one topic I had hoped that we'd avoid. "What I want to know is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more of them out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them."

"I don't know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

"Maybe there's something special about your knife."

"It is the same as mine. Celestial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."

"Maybe you have to hit it in a certain spot."

"No," I finally answered. "It has nothing to do with her knife or where she hit it."

"Then how did she destroy it, Alex? Thou obviously knows, so please tell."

"She was able to destroy them because of who she is. Or rather who her father is."

"What art thou talking about?"

"Percy, Thalia, you remember me saying that the gym at Westover smelled of death, right? Well, what I was saying is that their blood smells of death. She was able to destroy the zombies because her father commands the dead. This camp has the children of all of the Big Three."

"Wait a minute. Are you saying . . ?"

"Yes I am, Percy. Bianca and Nico di Angelo are the children of Hades. Congratulations, Grover. You've discovered the five most powerful demigods in sixty years."

"WHAT? You mean that even Hades broke his oath?"

"I'm not completely sure Thalia. But in any case, I want all of you to keep their father a secret. None of the Olympians, or anyone else, can know."

"Never mind that. We should plan our next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas."

"NO! Not there!" Bianca just completely freaked out at that.

"Why?"

"I . . . I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were traveling. And then, I can't remember . . ."

Percy, Grover and I paled at that. We looked at each other, and we knew we were thinking the same thing. "That hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

"How could you know that?"

"That's what we thought."

"Wait. What is the Lotus Casino?"

"Two years ago, Percy, Grover, Annabeth and I were trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave, and just to make sure you stay, they drug you with Lotus flowers. They thought they were in there for only an hour, but we were actually there for four days."

"No. No, that's not possible."

"You're an immortal, demigod Hunter of Artemis. You're currently traveling with three demigods, a nymph, and a satyr. And you think _that_ is impossible?"

"Thou said that Washington DC had changed when you went back last summer. Thou didn't remember the subway being there."

"Yes, but-"

"Bianca, can thou tell me the name of the president of the United States right now?"

"Don't be silly. George Bush."

"And who was the president before that?"

"Roosevelt. Franklin Delano Roosevelt."

I can't say I was shocked at that. "That explains that. Hades _didn't_ break his oath. Nico and Bianca were born _before_ the Pact of the Big Three. Bianca, Roosevelt died 62 years ago."

"That's . . . that's impossible. I'm not that old." I would have comforted her, but I caught two scents that I was very familiar with, and ones that I'd hoped to avoid until the end of the quest. "We've got visitors coming."

The limo had barely stopped before one of the passengers had opened his door and had his sword at Percy's throat. "Not so fast now, are you, punk?"

"Ares."

"At ease, people." He snapped his fingers, and all of our weapons fell to the ground, except for my spear-which I was still using as a crutch. "This is a friendly meeting. Of course I'd _like_ to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of my lady."

"What's thy business, Ares? Who's in the car?"

"Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not _them_. Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes."

"Not until I see who's in the car, _brother_." I limped to the side of the car, and moved to see who was inside, but Ares moved to stop me.

"She's only here to see Percy, _cripple._ Now back off, or you'll lose that leg."

"Not unless you want to get shot again." I called the Bolt to my hand and pointed it at _his_ throat. "Now move aside, Ares." I looked inside, and I saw one of the most unattractive women I've ever seen. Even Medusa and Echidna looked better than her. "Who in the world are you?"

"My dear, I am Aphrodite."

I couldn't believe my ears. "_You're_ Aphrodite?" I started laughing uncontrollably. That was the most ridiculous thing that I'd ever heard. When I finally stopped laughing five minutes later, I said "If you're Aphrodite, then Paris must have chosen you strictly for Helen. Because there is _no way_ that you could beat Athena in my book!" I walked to the taco place laughing.

**A/N:** Well, Biblioholic, I hope the Pyrrhic victory against the Chimera satisfied you.


	6. We Have a Dam Problem

**Demigod Cannonball Run**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Three**

**Chapter Six: We Have a Dam Problem**

I was still laughing when I got inside. "What's so funny, Alex?"

"Have you . . . have you ever met Aphrodite?"

"Yes, why? Did she do something to thee, to make it so that thou cannot stop laughing? That doesn't sound like her."

"It's not . . . it's not that. It's what she looks like! I though that she would be one of the beautiful women in the universe!"

"Yes, so? That's what I saw."

"You did? What I saw was the complete opposite. She was so unattractive, even _monsters_ looked more appealing!"

"Thou must be joking! When I've talked to boys who have met her, they've always said that she was the most attractive person they've ever met. Her appearance was always changing to match their fantasy."

"Ah, there's your answer. She's a master manipulator of the Mist. The Mist is the reason that she's so attractive. No wonder her cabin is always so crowded, she goes to mortals to keep up her self-esteem." About five minutes later, we went from sitting in the taco place to standing in the middle of the junkyard, with no town in sight. "So, how'd your audience with Aphrodite go? And what did she want?"

"Not completely sure. She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard. She said not to pick anything up."

"Well, that matches what I've found. Athena marked it as 'a deathtrap, something to avoid at all costs. Protected by a defective prototype Talos.' What ever that is."

"Talos is a huge, metal giant."

"What? How do you know that, Percy?" How is it that everyone seems to know more about monsters than me now? When I first arrived, I was the one that people looked to. Now, Percy and even Nico knows more than me!

"He's in _Jason and the Argonauts_, a movie from the 60's. That scene where he wakes up, it still gives me the shivers."

"Very well, then. If we run into him, we'll look to you for ideas on how to get rid of him."

The junkyard was full of amazing items, mixed with things that were unusual, or just plain stupid. Bianca found a Hunter's bow that could change into a crescent moon hairclip. Grover started munching on a crown made of gold, until Zoë knocked it away from him. I had hoped to find a metal Bubo, like from _Clash of the Titans_, but no such luck. However, I _did _find something that I was sure I could take, something that belonged there as much as we did, one of the saber-toothed tiger kittens from DC (I slipped him into my jacket when Zoë wasn't looking.) Even Percy found something to interest him-an electric guitar shaped like Apollo's lyre. But the strangest thing we found was a set of ten metal columns that looked like toes. We had just made it out, when I noticed Bianca picking something up.

Then we heard the creaking of enormous gears starting to turn. We whirled around, just in time to see the last hill of junk we passed start to stand up, revealing a bronze statue of a man dressed in Ancient Greek armor, at least 150 ft tall. "Ok, _that's _Talos!"

"Great, Percy, now how do we kill it?"

"There's a single nail in his ankle. We need to take it out, and he's dead!"

"Someone took something. Who took something?" Zoë stared at me and Percy.

"I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a thief," Percy said, just as I said, "Hey! I'm the son of Zeus, not Hermes!" We split up, hoping that one of us could take it out, or find the nail. Zoë started firing arrows at the half-melted face, Thalia fired her personal electricity at it's knee, while Grover played a tune, causing some broken power lines to shock Talos. In the meantime, Talos had passed me, and I had a perfect view of his ankles. Percy had been right, there was a nail in his left ankle, and I limped towards it and grabbed the nail.

"Hercules, give me your strength, just this once," I prayed. I then pulled on it with all my strength, and to my surprise, I was able to pull it out in only a few seconds. The hole started spewing out ichor, and I quickly jumped back to avoid being burned by it (What? I don't know what would happen if a mortal or demigod actually touched the blood of the gods.) Talos started shuddering, then his right hand fell off, and that started a chain reaction, until the only part of Talos left standing, were his two feet.

Luckily, we quickly found an old tow truck that still worked, and started back on the road. The truck ran out of gas at the edge of a canyon, just north-east of Laughlin, Nevada. Grover wanted to try and lead us down a goat-path so we could cross there, but Percy managed to convince him to try somewhere else upriver, but his idea wasn't much better, at least not for me and Thalia, he wanted to use canoes to go upriver till we found a place to cross. He eventually convinced me that it was safe, if I was in the same canoe as he was. We 'borrowed' two canoes (Percy, Bianca and I in one, with Thalia, Zoë, and Grover in the other) and rode them all the way to Hoover Dam.

Zoë decided that we should go to the dam snack bar, and Thalia laughed at that. Zoë was confused by that, but even more confused when the others picked up the joke. She turned to me and I pulled her to the side. "I do not understand. What is the joke? Why is everyone laughing when someone says 'dam?"

"They're laughing because these days, there's two words that are said 'dam.' One is the building, the other is spelled d-a-m-n, and that is usually used as a profanity. Essentially, it's a mortal version of 'Hades.'"

"Ah, that makes sense now. They were swearing without actually swearing."

"Exactly. Now, where did Percy go?" Apparently Percy had heard something and went to investigate it, so we went to the snack bar to wait for him, and to have our first proper meal since Camp Half-Blood. We had just gotten our lunch, when Percy ran up, insisting that we leave _immediately_. Grover protested, until Zoë and I pointed out that the skeletons were here and attempting to surround us.

"You guys go, I'll stay behind and buy you some time!"

"Bianca, are you crazy? You'll die!"

"_One shall be lost in the land without rain_. It's my fate, Alex. At least this way I'll be able to help out, now go! I want you to promise me to watch over Nico for me."

"I swear it on the River Styx, Bianca. Come on, let's get going." I hated doing it, especially considering what I'd told Nico, but I could hear Dad saying _She's right, son. She was supposed to die killing Talos. As much as I hate it, the Fates have decided. They have already cut her life string. And have Thalia activate the automatons, they will take you safely to San Francisco._ "Huh, automatons? What are you talking about?"

"Hast thou gone mad, Alex? Who was talking about automatons?"

"Sorry, I was talking to Dad. Apparently there are some automatons here that will take us to Frisco."

"There aren't any automatons here, though! Where are we supposed to go, Lightning Rod?" Gods, I hated that nickname. Ever since Thalia found out about our first quest, she's been calling me that if she wanted to annoy me. (If she wanted me _mad_, she'd call me Lex.)

Percy quickly figured it out and lead us to a pair of angel statues that tourists would rub for good luck. "I think Athena hinted that these are the automatons we're looking for. So, ask."

"Actually, _Thalia_ is supposed to ask." She looked like she didn't believe me, but she did it anyway, and the angels turned on and picked us up. (Well, actually it picked up Zoë and Grover, I hung on to it's legs.) "Wait! Before we go to Frisco, could you fly over the snack bar?"

"What? Now why would we want to do that, Mr. Zeus' Kid?"

"Well, it gives you more time to stretch your wings."

"Why didn't you say so, let's go!" Zoë looked at me and I swear she was thinking _What are you doing?_ But I had to see. We quickly made it to the snack bar, and . . . she wasn't there! But there was a five-foot black scar in the floor. Either Hades saved his daughter, or he took her body after she died. Either way, Bianca was gone, and she wasn't coming back. The rest of the trip to LA was uneventful. But boy, was I shocked by what we found there . . .

**A/N: **Well, what do you think? I really hated the fact that Bianca had died in the fight with Talos, so I decided to let her survive that. Thanks to _Jason and the Argonauts_, c 1960, I knew how to kill Talos without someone dieing. As for whether or not Bianca is alive, well, I'll leave that up to you. Review, and tell me if you want her to live, or die.


	7. Jason and Doc Chase

**_A/N:_** I finished_ The Lost Hero_ at 2 in the morning of October 13, and WOW! I could not have foreseen that last plot twist! (Sorry, no spoilers. You'll have to read it for yourself.) But while I was reading it, I realized something: I am going to have to delay The Alexander Chronicles after I finish _Operation: Obliterate!_ my version of BotL. Sorry, but the repercussions of it are too far reaching for me to even start _Olympus to Preserve or Raze. _I will probably pick it up after Rick releases _The Son of Neptune_. Oh, and incase you were wondering what happened to Hades' Mythomagic statue, Bianca still gave it to Percy at the junkyard of the gods.

**Demigod Cannonball Run**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Three**

**Chapter Seven: Jason and Doc Chase**

Hank and Chuck dropped us off near the Embarcadero Building. I had never been to Frisco before (the entire Bay area was marked as dangerous on Athena's map,) and I suppose that it was beautiful, but I was still depressed over Bianca's sacrifice. The others quickly decided that the next step was to find Nereus, the old man of the sea, and Zoë quickly disguised Percy so he could find Nereus without looking too suspicious. We followed him at a distance, but we quickly lost sight of him. Then we saw him in the bay, holding on to the dorsal fin of an orca. "What in the world is he doing?"

"He is wrestling Nereus. Didst thou not know that he can shape-shift?"

"Oh." I had forgotten that, but it didn't matter, as Percy soon dragged him out of the water. Percy attempted to ask more than one question, but when Nereus told him the rules, he asked where the monster was. I looked away then, I wanted to make sure we weren't being watched, and I caught a scent that I recognized. But I couldn't believe what I smelled, the smell of a thunderstorm, the mark of a child of Zeus. I looked around, and my eyes finally caught who had the scent, and boy was I shocked! I could have almost sworn I was looking in a mirror. He had the same blond hair and blue eyes that I had, and he was wearing a royal purple T-shirt. But if you looked beyond the physical, you could easily see a difference. While I was more of a follower and peacekeeper, he had the aura of a born leader, and a natural soldier. Also, if you looked closely at his arm, you'd notice he'd done something I'd never do, he had a tattoo-an eagle with four letters under it, SPQR. _Senatus Populesque Romanus_: The Senate and People of Rome, the standard of Rome, nearly two thousand years ago. Some people would call me crazy later for doing this-I limped up and started talking to him.

"Hi. Interesting tattoo you have there."

"Thanks. I take it you're with them?"

"Who?"

"The guys who just captured Nereus."

"Oh, yeah. The guy who actually did it is my cousin, Percy Jackson. I'm Alexander Summers."

"Jason Grace. I assume you're all demigods, well besides the faun."

"Faun? Oh, you mean Grover? No, actually. Zoë is a nymph, and a Hunter of Artemis. Or do you prefer Diana, considering you called Grover a faun?"

"Actually, I do prefer it. I'm surprised you know the Latin forms. I'd heard that you Greeks use they're original names."

"Eh, sometimes the Roman form is easier to remember than the Greek. Besides, they're the same people, basically, so who cares what form you use? Anyway, we're on a quest to save Diana from some titan general, so she can convince the gods to actually start preparing for the war against Saturn. Then Percy and I joined this for personal reasons."

"What personal reason could you have?"

"The General also has a friend of ours, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Minerva."

"So what about your other friends? Who are their parents?"

"Percy is the son of Neptune, and Thalia and I are your siblings. We're both children of Jupiter."

"How did you know who my father was?"

"First, the eagle on your arm. The eagle is a symbol of Jupiter. Of course, it was also a symbol of the Roman Empire, so that could just mean you're Roman. Second, and far more accurate, I can smell demigods, just like a faun, and you clearly have the scent of Jupiter. I assume you're at a Roman-style training camp, Jason?"

"Yes. I hope you don't have any problems with that. Do you?"

"None at all. Rome was one of the greatest nations on Earth. Without Roman legions keeping the peace, and Roman roads to travel on, Christianity would never have become as important as it is. And taking it back to your roots, I probably would have sided with Troy during the war, especially knowing what I do about Agamemnon. Hey, I just thought of something, why are you here?"

"My camp is based in the Bay Area. We've been keeping an eye on Mount Othrys for you. You should know, the Titan's palace is starting to rise again, and we will do our part. The Olympians are our parents too."

"Thanks, Jason. Maybe we'll be lucky and meet again after things calm down."

"Calm down? We're demigods, things are never going to calm down."

"Good point. How about after the war? We could meet at the Gateway Arch, and I can show you around our camp, then you can show me around yours?"

"You do remember that the Titanomachy won't be the end, right? After the Titans fall, we've got to deal with the Gigantomachy, led by Terra herself."

"Again, good point. In any case, I hope we meet again as friends."

"So do I. Farewell, Alexander Summers." And just like that, he was gone. Good timing too, because I caught sight and scent of Thorn, and he was coming here. I limped back to the group as fast as I could, just in time to hear Zoë say, "Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus is reborn."

"Guys, we've got trouble!"

"Well of course we've got trouble, Lightning Rod! Luke wouldn't hesitate. The power to overthrow Olympus. That's . . . that's huge."

"_Oui_, it is, my dear. And it is a power _you_ shall unleash."

"_That's_ the trouble I was talking about, Pinecone Face." Thorn had shown up with some mortal mercenaries, the worst possible enemy-none of us had any real weapons to use against them, well, except for my Bolt.

"This is just _pairrr-fect_. Long ago, the gods banished me to Persia. I was forced to scrounge for food on the edges of the world, hiding in forests, devouring insignificant mortal farmers for my meals. I never got to fight any great heroes. I was not feared and admired in the old stories! But now that will change. The Titan's shall honor me, and I shall feast on the flesh of half-bloods! Now, Thalia, zis is your moment. Zis is why Lord Kronos brought you back to life. You will sacrifice the Ophiotaurus. You will bring it's entrails to zee sacred fire on the mountain. You will gain unlimited power. And for your sixteenth birthday, you will overthrow Olympus!

"You know it's zee right choice. Your friend Luke recognized it. You shall be reunited with him. You shall rule zis world together under zee auspices of zee Titans. Your father abandoned you, Thalia, abandoned you to a brother who _hates_ you. They care nothing for you. And now you shall gain power over them. Crush zee Olympians underfoot, as they deserve. Call the beast! It will come to you. Use your spear."

Luckily, before Thalia could even think about it, Grover gave her a distraction by playing his pipes, causing some of the planks on the dock to sprout branches, causing some of the mercenaries to lose their footing. Zoë quickly added to the confusion by shooting some gas arrows into their midst. I pulled out Thuella, activated the bow form, and shot one of the mortals. To my great surprise, it actually _hit_ the merc and he started rolling around, as if the arrow was burning him! That's when I noticed the feathers, they were red, the color of my centaur's blood arrows. No wonder he acted like he was on fire!

"How didst thou do that, Alex? What are thy arrows made of?"

"Celestial steel. But I don't get it, the sword form just went through mortals. So why did that arrow actually hit?"

"Let me have one of thy arrows." I handed her one of my arrows, making sure to give her a 'safe' arrow. She then notched it and shot the same merc in the back, and it still hit, but that one put him out of his misery. "Another one." I did as she asked, and this time, she shot at an innocent bystander. That time, it just passed through him. "Hmm. I think that it will only work on mortals when they are involved in our world." Before I could comment on it, I caught the scent of grapes and wine, and the remaining mercs went crazy. Then Thorn was wrapped in an enormous mass of grapevines.

"What happened? How did that happen?"

"Dionysus, believe it or not. Thanks by the way." I wondered what he meant, until I noticed an Iris-message behind him.

"Please, don't mention it. Now, I hope you've learned your lesson, girl. It isn't easy to resist power, is it?" Percy tried to get some more help, but D didn't help much, and in the discussion, D actually called him 'Percy Jackson.' Zoë said that she knew where we needed to go, the garden of her sisters, the Hesperides. Of course, that still left the Ophiotaurus to deal with, but Grover volunteered to take it to Olympus. So, with the Blessing of the Wild, and Poseidon's protection (guaranteed by the sacrifice of the lion skin,) Grover and the Ophiotaurus left for Camp Half-Blood and Olympus. We were finally at the number of people prescribed by the Oracle, Grover had been the one that was supposed to stay behind after all. But we still needed a car to get to Mount Tamalpais/Othrys by sunset.

"Wait. There _is_ someone in San Francisco that can help us. I've got the address here somewhere."

Percy and I looked at each other in confusion. Thalia knew someone in Frisco? "Who?" we asked in unison.

"Professor Chase. Annabeth's dad."

From what Annabeth had told us about her dad, I was expecting someone like Lionel Luthor or maybe Kronos himself. What we found instead was the epitome of the absent-minded, but brilliant professor. What little hair showed said that he had the same blond hair as Annabeth, with brown eyes, and was wearing World War I era aviator clothes, complete with cap and goggles. "Hello. Are you delivering my airplanes?"

We were completely confused. "Um, no, sir."

"Drat. I need three more Sopwith Camels."

"Right." This guy was either off his rocker, or . . . I honestly don't know what else he _could_ be. "We're friends of Annabeth."

"_Annabeth_? Is she alright? Has something happened?" Our looks must have given us away. "You'd better come in." The home was clearly lived in, and it was terribly messy, if it were one of the cabins, it would have easily been deemed the messiest, even Hermes' cabin was cleaner than this. Anyway, Dr. Chase didn't learn our names until Mrs. Chase came into the room with us. When they heard Percy introduce himself, Mrs. Chase said, "Oh, so you're Percy! Annabeth's told us so much about you!

We were led to Dr. Chase's study, and when Zoë mentioned something about a model he had, the Doc was distracted, until Thalia broke in saying "Annabeth is in danger. We really need to borrow your car."

"I'll drive you. Hmm, it would be faster to fly in my Camel, but it only seats two."

"Sir, just a car would be great. And it might be better if we went without you. It's too dangerous."

"Now wait a minute, young lady. Annabeth is my daughter. Dangerous or not, I . . . I can't just-" Mrs. Chase came in with her promised snacks, and asked what we were arguing about. "Annabeth is in danger. On Mount Tam. I would drive them . . . but apparently it's too dangerous for mortals."

"Look, doc. There's a lot of monsters and at least one Titan on the mountain. I would really hate to be the one to tell Annabeth that you died trying to rescue her." Fortunately, the Doc listened, and Zoë was given the keys to the Chase's car. We were now only minutes away from Artemis and Annabeth.

**A/N: **Well, what do you think? In case you're wondering, Jason is 100% canon, and for those who are completely up to date with Rick, he _is_ who you think he is. As always,** READ AND REVIEW!**


	8. The General Becomes Part of the Scenery

**Demigod Cannonball Run**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Three**

**Chapter Eight: The General Becomes Part of the Scenery**

We finally caught sight of our goal about half an hour later. Mount Tam was _tiny_ especially when compared to, say, Olympus or even the original Othrys. "So _that's _the Mountain of Despair? Why do they call it that?"

Zoë was silent for nearly a mile before answering Percy. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced into pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos' right hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

Something about that story finally clicked in my mind. A Titan general, imprisoned at the summit of a mountain, beyond a garden. That same general carrying the sky as a burden. "Atlas! The General is Atlas! The Titan that was punished by carrying the sky!"

"Exactly. What took thee so long to figure that out?"

We'd nearly made it to the garden, when Percy mentioned that he'd seen a large, white cruise ship. The _Princess Andromeda_. Great, that meant Luke was here as well, two birds with one stone. We could take out Kronos' general _and_ his number 1 demigod at the same time! The next thing I knew, everyone had jumped out of the car, and I was suddenly feeling a hundred times better than I'd felt since St. Louis. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about _that_ part of the prophecy anymore," Thalia said.

"What part, sis?" I swear, Thalia jumped ten feet into the air when she heard my voice.

"Wha-Wha-How did you survive?"

"Thalia, Thalia, Thalia. I thought you knew me by know. Lightning charges me up like saltwater does Percy. One of Dad's bolts could only help me, never hurt."

We made it safely to the Garden of Hesperides, but we ran into Zoë's sisters. They threatened to kill us, until Zoë woke Ladon that is. She told us to go around, so we did; Thalia going left, Percy and I going right. We had almost made it when Ladon attacked Zoë, but fortunately, Zoë made good her escape. When we finally made it to the summit, we found that it was covered in ruins. "These were not here before. This is bad."

"I was expecting these to be here." When Zoë, Percy and Thalia looked at me like I was crazy, I decided to explain. "When you were talking to Nereus, I met a demigod who lives around here. He mentioned that Othrys was rising, and that his camp was keeping an eye on it."

"His camp? What are you talking about?"

"Simple, Seaweed Brain. There's another camp of demigods near here. I don't know where exactly, but Jason goes there." (I know, you're wondering how I could get away with calling Percy Seaweed Brain. While he hates the nickname in general, with me and Annabeth, it was just another nickname for him.)

We reached the summit a few minutes later, where we saw Artemis bearing the sky. For the first time since LA, I saw an Olympian in pain, the weight of the sky was too much for her! Artemis told us to stay away, but naturally Zoë disobeyed and attempted to free her. Then General Atlas welcomed us with a booming voice, saying "Ah, how touching." With him were Luke, some dracaena, and Annabeth in chains. Atlas decided that the first of us to feel his wrath would be Zoë, and when Percy objected, Atlas said "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter."

"A family matter?"

"Atlas is the father of the Hesperides, Percy. And thus, Zoë's father."

Zoë demanded that her father release Artemis, but Atlas revealed that she could only be freed if someone took her place "I think I will have all the Olympians take turns carrying my burden once Lord Kronos rules again and this is the center of our palace. It will teach those weaklings some humility."

"And why is it so necessary to hold the sky up? What could be so dangerous about air?"

"How little you understand, young one. This is where the sky and the earth first met. Where Ouranos and Gaea first brought forth their mighty children, the Titans." A voice in my head whispered something else. _This is where Geb and Nut embraced and conceived their children: Set, Nephthys, Isis, Osiris, and Horus._ "The sky still yearns to embrace the earth. Someone must hold it at bay, or else it would crush this place, instantly flattening the mountain and anything within a hundred leagues of this place. Once you have taken the burden, there is no escape. Unless someone takes it from you." _I knew that one of the five children would replace me as Pharaoh of the gods, my son, so I decreed that they not have their children on any night or day then existing. For disobeying me, I punished them by keeping them apart for eternity. Fortunately, Zeus was accommodating, and put Atlas on the job._

_Who are you?_ I asked.

_You already know, my son. I sent you the dream, detailing how I became your ancestor._

_Humor me._

_I am Ra._ Great, as if I didn't have enough problems already. Now I've got an Egyptian god talking to me in my head.

_Why are you talking to me? And why now?_

_Because, my son. Only you can bring me back so I can reign over the Egyptian gods. You are the bridge between our worlds, Greco-Roman, and Egyptian. I have chosen now, because Ma'at, order, is weakening. And it is because of your Kronos. If he keeps rising, he will weaken Apophis' chains enough that he can escape and destroy the world. It has been prophesied, in both Egypt, and Israel that when he does escape, he will bring about the worst age the world has known from creation to now. An age of death, destruction, plagues, and the fall of the gods._

"We will raise Mount Othrys right here. Once more it will be stronger and greater than Olympus."

"Not if I can help it, Luke." I pulled out Thuella in bow form, pulled out one of my mixed poison arrows, and shot Atlas in the shoulder. He yelled in pain, and the others charged the army. Thalia went after Luke, her shield scaring off the dracaena. Percy went after Atlas, then Ares' curse came into effect. Percy acted like Anaklusmos weighed thirty pounds, and was thrown to the feet of Artemis.

Then he did the craziest thing ever, he took the sky from Artemis. I could tell that Percy couldn't hold it long, so I created a funnel and used it to bring water from a pool to him, giving him the strength and endurance to hold it as long as necessary. When the water ran out, I extended the funnel to the sea, giving him even more strength. Then I noticed Atlas attempted to stab Artemis, but she threw him so he hit Percy, putting Atlas back in his prison. "NO! Not again!" Then Atlas turned to me. "You, son of Zeus! Help me! Relieve me of this burden and I will make you more powerful than even your father! The gods are dishonest, you can never trust them!"

"Don't . . . don't listen . . . don't listen to him, Alex." Percy looked like hell, I could tell he was in pain, but he was still more focused on our job.

"He's right, Percy. The gods _are_ dishonest." Artemis looked at me in shock. I could tell she was thinking _What? After all you've gone through, after all we've done for you, you're supporting him?_ "But," I continued, "a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest, honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for." I reached inside my shirt, and pulled out the one weapon I'd never used. "Because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly . . . stupid. Thalia, Annabeth, Artemis, Zoë, Percy, cover your eyes!" I hit the button and turned to face Atlas, with Stheno's head in my hands. Atlas was frozen in stone, never again to escape his prison. I looked over to Luke, just in time to see him dive over the cliff. Artemis was cradling Zoë, who was quickly fading. The army from the _Princess Andromeda_ were nearly upon us, when Dr. Chase flew in, firing on the army from his Sopwith Camel. Artemis called her moon chariot, and we escaped the survivors on her chariot.

When we got back, we found out one of the reasons Athena had fallen for Chase, he had melted down some demigod weapons into bullets, a real mad scientist at heart. Artemis attempted to heal Zoë, but Zoë stopped her. She was choosing to let her life go. Thalia asked for forgiveness, saying that she was right about Luke, heroes, even men. Zoë looked at Percy and I and said, "Perhaps not all men, not all heroes." I think she approved of us. "I am honored that you carry this sword, Percy." Zoë breathed her last not two minutes later, and Artemis did something. Zoë's body turned into silver dust, and Artemis tossed it into the sky, turning her into a new constellation.

"Let the world honor you, my huntress. Live forever in the stars."

**A/N:** I know, quick, but I got inspired. I got the idea for Atlas' death from one version of the story of Perseus, where he passes by Atlas with Medusa's head, turning him to stone. As always Read and Review.


	9. Judgment on Olympus

**A/N:** Alright, tell me this, for those of you who have_ not_ read _The Lost Hero_, how did you know who Jason was? I thought that I'd left it ambiguous as to how he shows up in canon! In any case, I'm going to do one more story in _The Alexander Chronicles_, and then I'm going to work on my other stories and Phoebe's prophecy until _The Son of Neptune_ comes out.

**Demigod Cannonball Run**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Three**

**Chapter Nine: Judgment on Olympus**

After making Zoë into a constellation, Artemis called her chariot and left for Olympus, and sent some pegasi to take us there. Unfortunately, she didn't know I'd lost my wings, so Annabeth and I had to share a pegasus. On our way, Annabeth told us that she'd probably go back to being a year-round camper, considering where her mortal family was living now. "Thanks, Annabeth."

"What for?"

"For deciding to live at camp. That means I'll have at least two friends there this year, and someone to help me train Nico."

"So, did you guys ever believe I was dead?"

Percy told her no, but I had to set the record straight. "Actually, Annabeth, while he may have never believed you were dead, he seemed like he was crazy with grief for a time. And he had a shorter temper with Thalia than when you were around, once he nearly started a major fight with her. Between the three of us, we might have started WWIII, if it weren't for the Oracle!" It was easier to laugh about that time, now that Annabeth was back.

"Luke isn't dead, you know."

"Annabeth, that fall was pretty bad. There's no way-"

"He isn't dead. I know it, the same way you knew about me." Percy wasn't happy about that, he'd believed it because he loved her. But if Annabeth loved Luke . . . well, I guess that meant Percy had a reason to be jealous of Luke last summer. Then I realized something, it _was_ possible to have survived that, assuming Luke had followed in the footsteps of a demigod son of one of the minor goddesses.

For the first time, I saw all fourteen of the great Olympians together in one room. The thrones were set up in the same order as the cabins at CHB, with Hades' throne between his brothers, and Persephone's between Hera and Demeter. Dad looked at me in disappointment, saying in my mind _How could you, Alex? How could you agree with Atlas?_

_You have to admit, you are dishonest. If you weren't, demigods wouldn't exist, now would we? Besides, better someone you know you can't completely trust than someone you know little about, someone who might get you to trust them, just so they can stab you in the back. Don't worry Dad, my loyalties are clear. They lie with Olympus, and with my friends._

"And as for you, my heroes . . ." I had finished my silent conversation with Dad just in time. Artemis was just about to talk to the other Olympians. "These half-bloods have done Olympus a great service. Not only have they freed me while imprisoning Atlas again, they have insured that he will never escape again. Would any here deny that?"

When I looked around at the Olympians, I noticed for the first time the woman sitting next to Dad. No, she wasn't a woman. The best description for her is _old hag_. Of all the women I've seen in my life, she most resembled the Looney Tunes cartoon Witch Hazel, and even compared to her, Witch Hazel won out in beauty. I whispered to Annabeth and Percy, "_That's Hera?_ Jeez, no wonder Dad goes to mortals." They looked at me like I was nuts. Hades smiled at me, thinking at me _I couldn't agree more. It's clear which side of the family Hephaestus and Ares get their looks from, eh? And thank you for keeping my children's identity secret. When we are through, I will teach you about Persephone's gift for you._

_You're welcome, uncle. But, um, what gift are you talking about?_

_When we're through, beloved nephew. When we're through._ _Beloved_ nephew? Wow. I couldn't believe that, Hades actually _liked_ me! "I got to say. These kids did okay. _Heroes win laurels_ . . ."

"Ah, yes, first class. All in favor of not disintegrating them?" To my surprise, only three voted in favor: Hermes, Demeter, and Aphrodite (She also sent me a message: _You are __**never**__ going to have a love life if I can help it_. _Saying I'm not beautiful. Hmph!_)

"Wait just a minute! These three are dangerous. It'd be much safer while we've got them here-"

"Ares, they are worthy heroes. We will not blast my son to bits."

"Nor my children. They have done well." Thalia blushed at that, she wasn't as used to Dad's praise as I was.

"I agree with my brothers. They are worthy heroes, and I am willing to trust them with the life of Olympus." Everybody stared at Hades in shock, especially Persephone and his brothers. Hades, trusting heroes?

"I am proud of my daughter as well. However, as much as it pains me to say this, there is a security risk with these three. It is unfortunate that my father and uncle Poseidon chose to break their oath not to have any more children. Only Hades kept his word, a fact I that find ironic. As we know from the Great Prophecy, children of the three elder gods . . . such as Percy, Thalia, and Alex . . . are dangerous. As thick-headed as he is, Ares has a point."

"Right! Hey, wait a minute! Who you callin'-" Then vines wrapped around Ares, and D asked Ares to save the fighting for later.

Before the arguing could get any further, I decided to step in. "I can't believe I'm saying this, Athena, but you're acting like a fool." _That_ stopped everything, and everyone stared at me. Most of them were in shock, while Athena and Annabeth looked at me like I was a traitor, again. "You're acting like a fool because Kronos _is_ rising, and only the three of us have a chance of stopping him. The Oracle clearly stated that one of us would reach sixteen when Kronos made his move. And just to back it up, the Titaness Phoebe prophesied the same thing nearly two thousand years ago. Why try and stop the prophecy from coming true, when that never works? In a way, you've helped fulfill the prophecy by making our births just one more hurdle to survive. The best thing we can do is prepare for the war, and focus on beating Kronos."

Artemis was the first one to back me up. "He is right. I would see these heroes rewarded. If we destroy heroes who do us a great favor, than we are no better than the Titans. If this is Olympian justice, I will have none of it."

"Calm down, sis. Jeez, you need to lighten up."

"Don't call me 'sis!' I will reward them."

"Well, perhaps. But the monster at least must be destroyed. We have agreement on that?" Percy quickly realized that they were talking about the Ophiotaurus, and was able to talk our fathers into sparing it, and keeping it in an aquarium on Olympus. Also, Artemis took a new lieutenant. Percy immediately thought that Annabeth was the one that Artemis meant. Fortunately for him, and me, it was Thalia. And Thalia did so willingly, to avoid the prophecy, passing it on to us. To our great surprise, when Dad called for a vote on the new plan to let Bessie live on Olympus, only three people didn't vote for it, Athena abstained, while D and Ares voted against.

During the party, I noticed D with a beautiful woman, who had to be Ariadne. Which reminded me, I had some questions that needed answered. "Athena, I need to ask you some questions."

"Let me guess, you want to know why I said that we should kill you at the Council."

"Yes."

"I'm the goddess of wisdom, Alex. Above all, I must listen to my head, even when my heart tells me something that's the exact opposite. Logically, it _is_ dangerous for us to leave you and Percy alive. But my heart says the same thing that Artemis said: we should honor you."

"Thanks, sis. Now, I need you to help me understand two events. First, did you tell Theseus to leave Ariadne on Naxos, or did he do that on his own?"

"Yes, I told him to leave her there."

"Why?"

"Before I tell you this, you must swear on the River Styx to keep this a secret." I did so, and she told me the most astonishing thing I'd heard since I discovered I was a demigod. "I told him to leave her, because I had fallen in love with him."

"You, in love with Theseus?"

"Yes."

"You fell in love with a demigod son of Poseidon?"

"Is it that hard to believe?"

"Actually, not really. Not considering Annabeth and Percy. Does this have anything to do with the rivalry between you and Poseidon?"

"Yes. He had been my favorite uncle. The competition for cities was just that, competition. Then he slept with Medusa in my temple, and that's when we became rivals. But when I fell in love with Theseus, we started to patch things up. Unfortunately, I realized that there was no way for us to be together, and when I told Theseus that, he killed himself. Poseidon never forgave me for that."

"Why didn't you just make him an immortal? I know that you can do that. After all, Dad did that to Ganymede, so why couldn't you do it for him?"

"Why . . . I never thought of it, to be honest. Oh, if only I had, it would have saved us from so much trouble over the past three millennia."

"Ok, one more question. Why did Medea do all those terrible acts to Jason, just because he took a second wife? From what I understand, it was expected of kings to have more than one wife at the time."

"That's something I've never understood. If you really want to know, than I'd ask either Aphrodite or have Hades summon her ghost."

"Thanks. Oh! Medea! I need to IM Jason!" I ran to the nearest fountain and tossed in a coin. "Oh, Iris, accept my offering. Jason Grace." Iris winked at me, and I saw Jason dueling someone, a demigod. To my surprise, I could smell her through the Iris-message, and she had a scent that I thought I'd never smell off a demigod-a combination of perfume and peacock. The scent of Hera/Juno, queen of Olympus.

Jason quickly disarmed her, and turned around. I think he was shocked to see an IM behind him, 'cause he jumped back nearly five feet. "How did you do that?"

"What, contact you? It's all about who you know. In this case, Iris. Jason, who was that you were fighting?"

"Her name is Thea, and she's 17. She and her twin brother, Jacob showed up at camp about seven years ago. Still don't know who their parent is. But they say that they've heard from her, and that they were born to 'take care of' a certain demigod enemy of their mother."

"I know who their mother is. Don't ask me how, but Iris is allowing me to smell them through the message."

"Well, brother? Who is it?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but let's just say that you should watch for a peacock feather."

"JUNO? That's impossible! She's the goddess of marriage and fidelity. How could she have demigod kids?"

"I'm not sure, but it would have to be something serious."

"No kidding. Now why did you call? I know it's not so you can catch up with your long-lost brother."

"Your right. When the fighting breaks out, what are your plans to battle the Titans?"

"We're going to climb Mount Othrys and topple Saturn's throne, why?"

"That's what I was afraid of. Listen, Jason, I just killed Atlas up there-"

"You killed Atlas? How?"

"I used the head of a Gorgon, but that's why I called. I left the Gorgon head up there, just in case somebody knew how to reverse the process and attempted to free Atlas again. When you are preparing to go, warn the rest of your legion not to get too close to Atlas. I don't want you to lose any demigods because of me."

"Thanks for the warning, Alex. I'll keep you updated, in case we need help there. But how did you know we were organized into a legion?"

"Your tattoo. SPQR, _Senatus Populesque Romanus_, is the mark of the legion."

"Oh." Then he noticed the background. "Where are you? If that's your camp, I don't think I'd fit in well there."

"You'd fit in fine, I think. But no, this isn't my camp. I'm on Olympus right now, and they're in the middle of a party. We just avoided the first chance for the prophecy to be fulfilled."

"Prophecy? You don't mean the Great Prophecy, do you?"

"Yeah, you know it?"

Then he started speaking in Latin, "_Heroicus primogenite dis veniemus in omnes sedecim dissidentes videret mundum perpetuo dormiunt. Heros anima maledictus metet herbam. Unus finietur choice diebus suis conservare Olympo destruent._"

I don't know how, but I instantly knew what it meant. "_A half-blood of the eldest gods, shall reach sixteen against all odds, and see the world in endless sleep. The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve or raze._ Yeah, that's it."

"Well, looks like we both know it. But what do you mean, we just avoided a chance at it's fulfillment?"

"Our sister, who's just hours from her sixteenth birthday, just joined the Hunters of Diana. Which means that the next chance won't be for two years, unless you're over fourteen?"

"No, I'm fourteen as well. So, how many of us are there?"

"You mean kids like us? There's four of us that are still eligible. Jupiter has us, Neptune has Percy, and then Pluto has one that he's kept hidden for seventy years-please don't mention him to anyone else, but he won't be eligible for about five years. I'm guessing that it will happen in two years."

"Thanks for the information, Alex. Now we at least have an idea as to how long we have."

"No problem. By the way, have you been having recruiting problems?"

"Actually, we've had to tell our fauns to stop looking. We've got nearly 150 newbies this year alone. Why?"

"Well, we've been having recruiting problems. At least now I can rest easier knowing that it's not just Saturn and Luke that's getting them."

"Luke?"

"Luke Castellan, son of Mercury, and traitor to Olympus. He's the unofficial leader of the Titan's army. See you later, Jason, and good luck."

"May Victoria grant you victory, Alex." After our call, I did my best to enjoy the party, but Hermes had to spoil it.

"What did you do to infuriate Hera so much? I haven't seen her this mad since . . . actually, not even Hercules made her this mad."

"I actually beat Hercules in something?"

"Yeah. If I were you, I'd avoid Hera as much as possible. She plagued Hercules the rest of his life, and she hates you even more than him. Either try to make up, or watch your back. When Hera's in this kind of mood, there's no telling what she could do." _No telling what she could do_. I had a feeling I already knew what she'd done because of me. She'd had an affair with a mortal, and had demigod kids. For the first time since I'd discovered I was a son of Zeus, I was scared. And to make things worse, I wasn't scared of Kronos. Oh, no. I was scared of my step-mother. A line of 17th century poetry ran through my mind: _Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd._ And now I was dealing with a woman scorned.

**A/N:** If any of you have an explanation for Medea's actions, please, tell me! I honestly have no idea, and would be grateful for an explanation. The one with the best explanation will get a spoiler to Parts VI and VII of The Alexander Chronicles. Thea and Jacob are not my characters. They belong to Hahs, and are the main characters in her story _Born From Jealousy._ And that _is_ the best Latin translation of the WWII Great Prophecy that I could find. As always, READ AND REVIEW!


	10. One Claimed, One Disappeared

**Demigod Cannonball Run**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part Three**

**Chapter Ten: One Claimed, One Disappeared**

I ran from Olympus as quickly as possible, leaving only a brief message with Hermes, telling them where I'd gone, and took the first cab to CHB that I could. Once there, I ran to my cabin and fell into bed. I didn't want to risk Hera's wrath quite yet. I might have stayed in there the rest of the day, but then I remembered what happened on the Chrysler Building. I challenged Dionysus, and he did _nothing_ to me. Hera may have two living weapons to use against me, but they were on the other side of the continent, in a Roman camp. What did I have to worry about? I was just about to leave the cabin, when I bumped into Thalia. "Alex? What are you doing back so soon? Percy and Annabeth are still on Olympus."

"Well, Hera wants me dead, so I figured that the best place for me would be here. I take it you're going to pack so you can join our sister?"

"Yeah. It seems like your prayers weren't in vain after all. We're leaving in a few minutes. See you around."

I walked out to find many of the Hunters getting ready to leave, but there was some sort of commotion going on near the archery range. When I went to check it out, I saw one of the Hunters, a girl named Kristan beating up Javier, even with Chiron getting after her, telling her that Artemis would not approve of her picking fights with boys, just because of what happened to her before. "I don't care what Artemis would say! Considering how pathetic and sad he is, I can't imagine his so-called father."

Ouch, I knew that Javier would be furious about, but I didn't expect what happened. His brown hair turned as black as midnight, his eyes turned a deep indigo, and his already pale skin went as white as snow. **"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY FATHER THAT WAY!** **He served this country with honor, valor and courage! He was a hero!"** He then attacked Kristan and started beating her with his bare hands! I stood frozen in shock for about a minute, then I grabbed Javier and tried pulling him back, but he was too strong. Then I started gaining some ground; I looked to my right, and I saw Charlie Beckendorf helping me out, and we eventually pulled him off. But he was still furious, screaming **"LET ME GO! She deserves to die!"**

That's when I noticed something for the first time: he had been claimed. Over his head was floating a patch of black sky with an eight pointed star in the center. "I don't believe it. Hail, Javier Vargas. Son of Nyx, goddess of the night." Oh, that explains it. I didn't think Nyx had demigod kids, so I didn't think to include her in the list of possible mothers. Hearing Chiron say 'Hail, Javier Vargas' woke him from his fury, and his features resumed their normal coloring, and he let us lead him to the Big House. "Javier, has anyone told you about Nyx?"

"No, who is she?"

"She is goddess of the Night, and the one being that Zeus feared. And she has claimed you as her son."

"That actually explains some things, Chiron. When I first met you, I felt a kind of instinctual fear of you. At least now I can blame our parents for that." Then I remembered something, and I started laughing.

"What's so funny, Lightning Rod?"

"I just remembered some of Nyx's kids. Did you know that some of your sisters are the Fates and the Furies?" Apparently they didn't get the joke. But before I could explain what was so funny about that, I caught the scent of owls and the sea, Annabeth and Percy were back. Which reminded me that I still had something I needed to do, although it was a chore that I really didn't want to do.

Unfortunately, my chore came looking for us. "Hey, Alex! I've been looking for you. How'd the quest go? Did my sister decide to leave those stupid Hunters? Where is everyone?"

"Whoa, Nico. Slow down. One question at a time. Now, first, we saved Annabeth and Artemis, and General Atlas won't be able to trick anyone else into taking his burden. Percy and Annabeth are coming back right now. As to Bianca, well, we need to talk." Percy and Annabeth saw who I was talking too, and joined us quickly. "Listen, Nico, on the quest, we got caught by some monsters, ones that only Bianca could kill. She told us to get away, while she dealt with the monsters . . ."

"What happened?"

His voice was killing me. I really wished that I didn't have to this. It would kill him, knowing he lost his only living family. "I didn't want to leave her, but she insisted, and when we went back to where we'd left her, there was a black scar in the floor. It's possible that someone saved her, but I don't know."

"She wanted you to have this." Percy handed him a small, silver figurine. One of the god figurines from Mythomagic. I stared at it, because I knew I'd seen that face before. Then it hit me. I had seen that face mere hours before, on Olympus. It was a figurine of Hades, Nico and Bianca's dad.

"You promised you'd keep her safe! You promised! I shouldn't have trusted you! You lied to me! My nightmares were right!"

"Wait, what nightmares?"

"She's dead! I should have known it earlier! She's in the Field of Asphodel, being evaluated right now. I can feel it."

"What do you mean, you can feel it?" I knew how. It was just something that a child of Hades could do. Then I heard something that shouldn't be here, a sound of doom. It was the last two survivors of the skeleton army. Percy and I drew our swords and turned to face them. Nico thought that Percy was trying to kill him with them.

"Nico, listen, pull your sword! You're the only one that can stop them now!" He yelled at them to go away, and the ground swallowed the skeletons, leaving only a twenty-foot obsidian scar. Nico ran off, and Percy and I tried to follow him, but he'd disappeared. Later, Annabeth and Grover joined us, and Annabeth wanted to tell someone. Percy and I voted that down, we didn't want any more trouble over possible Prophecy kids, and I didn't want them to try to kill Nico just because his dad hid him away. I liked the kid, and I didn't want anything more to happen to him. "We're going to protect Nico, Annabeth. No matter what, we _have_ to protect him."

"But Alex, you can't hide things from the gods. Not forever."

"No Grover, we can't. But we don't need forever. We just need two years, until we're sixteen." I looked at Percy, and he nodded. "We choose the prophecy. We're going to repay Nico for our failure, and get Luke to focus on us." Annabeth wasn't very happy about that, probably because she knew that she had fallen for Percy, and didn't want him to die. We told Chiron a semi-believable story about Nico's disappearance. He told Percy to stay in the mortal world, because this winter would be hard.

Annabeth then changed her mind about her plans. "I'm going to try San Francisco after all. Maybe I can keep an eye on Mount Tam, make sure the Titan's don't try anything else."

"You don't need to Annabeth, keep an eye on Mount Tam I mean. I know someone who's already doing that, and he's promised to keep me updated. So, if you want to stay here, you can. Percy may be optimistic about how your mortal family feels, but I got the impression that your step-mother didn't want us around. But if you're willing to risk it, well, that's your choice." Then I left the Big House, and quickly ran into Javier. "Hey, Javier! Listen, I'm sorry that I ran out on you back there, it's just that . . ."

"Yeah, I heard about what happened to Nico's sister. How'd he take it?"

"He ran away. I think he blames Percy for what happened to his sister. Hey, listen. The reason that I wanted to talk to you, well, what do you say to staying in my cabin, considering you've been claimed?" And as a peace offering to his mom, but I didn't want him to think that I considered him as just a bargaining chip.

"I'd like it, but wouldn't your dad be angry?"

"Hmm, good point." Of all the Olympians, my dad was the one I _really _didn't want to piss off. "So, you're just going to stay in the Hermes cabin?"

"What other place is there for kids of the minor gods? It's not like we have any cabins." He was right, they _didn't_ have any cabins. But that wasn't right. It wasn't just the Big Twelve that had kids with mortals. Nico and Javier both proved that, yet we had only the twelve cabins, and one of them was never used. But how could we fix that? I knew Chiron wouldn't listen to that idea, if only for the fact that I would be the only one that presented it. I knew no one else would even think about building cabins for the minor gods. I sat down at the hearth, and thought about that injustice . . . Injustice! Oh, great! _Now_ I figure out Ethan Nakamura's mother, after he's already left! Nemesis, goddess of justice, revenge, and balance. If I knew her, she'd probably have her son join Kronos as vengeance for the minor deities not being recognized at the camps.

Chiron showed up while I was still in a bad mood. "Alex, you disobeyed my orders, again. I told you to never leave camp again, until you had proven yourself responsible enough to do so."

"But Chiron, I was supposed to go! The prophecy said that five of us would go to save Artemis, and two would be lost-one by a parent's hand, and the other in a land without rain. Zoë died because Atlas attacked her, and Bianca died inside Hoover Dam."

"But it said _five_, not six."

"It said: _Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, Campers and Hunters combined prevail_. Five campers and Hunters _did_ go, and three returned. Grover is technically not a camper, because campers are the demigods, not the other mythological creatures, because you all call this home. Besides, he left at Frisco, he was needed, yes, but he wasn't one of the ones in the prophecy. Also, you don't decide who stays and who goes in camp all the time. As I recall, Annabeth mentioned that campers could leave anytime they wanted, it just wasn't recommended because of the danger. The only way for you to keep me from joining my friends on quests is for you to send me out to _live_ in the mortal world. Unless you're going to do that, leave me alone, Chiron." I left for my cabin. I had some planning to do. I was going to find Nico di Angelo, get him to forgive Percy, and make sure Luke never found him, or die trying.

**A/N:** Well, that's it for Demigod Cannonball Run. Up next: Operation: Obliterate! (Thank Star Trek: TOS for the title.) Thanks to all my reviewers: playstationdemon, ilovefez13, Katoo, marc, Brianna, Reading Obsession, and biblioholic. Oh, and biblioholic, I've got a message from PSD for you: Take That!


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